New beginnings, renewed promises
by LeNub
Summary: After failing to bring Sasuke back to the village, Naruto is at a loss when everything around him seems to fall apart. He soon finds comfort and strength in the unexpected form of a certain blond kunoichi. Naruto & Ino fic. Time-jump in the near future
1. Chapter 1: Prologue: Aftermath pt 1

This is a rather old story which was my first attempt at writing a few years ago. After four chapters I got completely ruined by my first experience of writer's block and ended up not updating it anymore. I've given this story several attempts to pick it up again, even wrote as much as three whole chapters past the forth. But every time I either couldn't get anything on paper, or when I did I was just so disappointed with it that I tossed it all out again.

Finally I managed to get a burst of inspiration barely a week ago and gotten back to it. Reread my earlier work thorough, correcting some rather strange typo's, and started working on a 5th chapter. Right now I'm proofreading everything again, and editting minor things.

There's most likely a rather sudden change in writing style from chapter 4 to 5, as far as I've noticed myself atleast but I hope that works out for the better.I'm kind of hoping that there's people out there that remember my story from back then, cause their praise and constructive criticism really helped me and meant a great deal.

I'd like to take a second real shot at this story, and this time I already got some important lines set out for me that'll last for quite a bit. I won't abandon this story again!

As for the disclaimer. Last time I mentioned not owning Naruto and that donations were welcome to remedy that. I'll stick to not owning Naruto, as that might just make it prone to suddenly go on Hiatus for several years. *Cough*

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Prologue: Aftermath pt 1**

**"RASENGAN!" "CHIDORI!"**

Their screams fade out almost instantly as their strongest moves collide with one another, the immense amounts of chakra leaking from the collision forming a black sphere around the two. The last thing Naruto's mind registered is his Rasengan being overcome and something piecing into his chest before darkness overcame him.

Moments later, on the edge of the flowing river, Sasuke stands over the unmoving body of Naruto. He gazes down at the blond with a cold, emotionless look in his eyes as his forehead protector slowly clatters down to the ground, a horizontal scratch visible through the Konoha symbol. Slowly looking up as drops begin to fall, swiftly turning into a heavy downpour as a fitting conclusion to their battle. A sudden jolt shooting through his body as his right hand moves to tightly grip his heavily aching left shoulder while he clatters down unto his knees, coughing up a little bit of blood.

As his eyes open a moment later he finds himself with a close up view of Naruto's pain-filled face. A sneer slowly spreads across his face as he reaches for his kunai holster. Slowly standing up and stepping to the blond's side, he draws a kunai and jabs it down through Naruto's hand. His hand moves to the holster again as he draws another kunai which he jabs through the blond's other hand.

'_This time.. You won't follow me.. Naruto.'_

* * *

Kakashi sped through the forest quickly, jumping from branch to branch as his gaze fixed at the distance. A moment earlier he noticed the outflow of chakra and could only relate it's source from one thing as he picked up his pace. _'I have a bad feeling about this.'_ he mused as he approached the edge of the forest, halting on the cliff overlooking the battlefield.

His eye spotting the boy laying on the ground almost instantly and he dashed off towards him. His eye widening as even with his face covered almost entirely one emotion was easily readable from his face, shock. Laying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood was the unmoving body of Naruto. Kakashi kneeled down over the boy and inspected the large chest wound before pressing two fingers against his neck to check for a pulse. Pakkun walked over and sniffed the forehead protector that lay on the ground.

"Sasuke's.." he said as he tried to follow the scent in the air. "We won't be able to follow his trail long in this heavy rain."

"Naruto's condition takes priority now, we must get him back to Konoha before it's too late." Kakashi said as he pulled the Kunai out of Naruto's hands and tossed them aside before carefully picking the boy up in his arms. "I'm sorry I didn't make it in time, Naruto.." he said before dashing off back towards the village. "Let's go, Pakkun!"

The dog nodded as he followed after his summoner.

* * *

Deep in the forest further ahead, Sasuke's stumbling slowly halting as he turns slightly to look back over his shoulder. His eyes glaring while a scowl forms on his lips, his right hand tightly clenching unto his left shoulder. The words of his brother repeating in his head. _"The mangekyou Sharingan.. You too have the potential to unlock our bloodline's final and most powerful stage. The only requirement for it is.. That you kill the person you consider your closest friend."_

His eyes narrow slightly as he turns back again, stumbling on towards his destination. Sound and more so, Orochimaru. _'I.. Will NOT do as you say! I will not follow the road you directed me into. I will obtain power in my own way, I will surpass you in my own way!'_ he mused to himself, his stumbling reduces slightly, his determination stronger than ever as he approaches Orochimaru's base.

* * *

Naruto's eyes slowly opened no further than tiny slits, his body aching all over and he found it hard to draw breathe. "K-Kakashi-Sensei.. W-Where's.. Sasuke?" he grunted out between his painful pants for air before darkness took him again as he fell back unconscious.

Shortly after the blond lost consciousness again three medical nins approached Kakashi. "Kakashi-san. How is Uzumaki Naruto's condition?" One asked as he looks over the boy in Kakashi's arms.

"He's in bad shape. He has a large wound on the right half of his chest and is most likely suffering from chakra exhaustion. He needs medical treatment, and fast." Kakashi responded in his usual calm tone, a serious look on his face.

The medical nin nodded briefly with concern in his eyes. "What about Sasuke? Where is Uchiha Sasuke?" he asked to which Kakashi's could only respond by shaking his head slowly. His gaze returning the the nin intending to change the subject slightly. "What's the situation with the other Genin?" "By Hokage-sama's order, the first and second medical teams were dispatched. We have already taken the injured back to receive medical treatment."

Kakashi nodded slightly in response. "What are their conditions?" he asked the same medical nin.

"Nara Shikamaru's injuries are minor. Inuzuka Kiba has a deep wound, but it is not life threatening. However.. Hyuuga Neji and Akimichi Chouji are in critical condition. Recover for either of them is still uncertain."

* * *

Konoha's hospital was bustling with activity as several medical teams were involved with the treatment of the injured Genin. Outside of treatment room 6 sat Shikamaru, fiddling nervously with his fingers while leaning forward. His eyes, filled with concern, aimed at the floor unwilling to look up at the woman across from him. That is, until she began speaking in that demeaning tone of hers.

"It's pointless to be as nervous as you are. Sacrifices and losses are an inevitable part of mission. I'm sure you're aware of that. Didn't you receive emotional training for situations such as these?"

He looked up at her with a slight hint of annoyance in his eyes. "Training and actual combat are completely different. I knew very well what missions would consist of. I thought I understood all what the world of shinobi was about. However.. This was my first mission as a Chuunin. The first mission for which I was appointed team captain. Only now do I realize that I'm not cut out to be a shinobi." He slowly stood up before continuing.  
"I shouldn't have been the team captain this time. All I did was put my trust in everyone else. I was too naïve. I wasn't nearly strong enough. This is all my fault." He finished, clenching his hand tightly into a fist.

"What, are you afraid of being hurt?" Temari spoke while gazing at the Nara in disappointment of the young man. Shikamaru, however, granted her no reply as he turned and walked away through the hallway. Passing his father who was resting against the wall around the corner. Shikaku slowly closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh before looking up again at his retreating son.

"Shikamaru.. You're just going to run away when a woman is talking down on you like that?"

"It's troublesome. I don't want to have an argument, I'm not a girl." replied Shikamaru with a slight glance over his shoulder.

"Yeah.. But you're not a man either. You're being nothing more than a coward. Even if you just quit being a shinobi right here and now, missions will still occur. It will simply be someone else that carries them out. Your friends will just be assigned a new leader. And that time, they might all die. But, if you are their captain your friends might not end up that way. If you look at all of this as a learning experience and grow from it, maybe you'll be able to do better next time and carry your future missions out perfectly. If you really care about your friends then before deciding to run away from everything, considering becoming greater and stronger for the sake of your friends instead! That's what it means to be a true friend, not by running away you damn coward!" Shikaku finished, still glaring lightly at his son as she relaxed back against the wall again.

Just after Shikaku finished scolding his son, the red light above the doors to the treatment room switched off. The doors opened and Tsunade stood in the opening. She sighed softly before a smirk slowly spread across her lips. "He's going to be alright now. I stopped the continuous cellular destructive effects of those pills with an antidote I created." she said as she walked over to the bench where Shikamaru sat just earlier. She sat down and crossed her legs, her hands resting on the bench as well as she leans over a little while looking over at Shikaku.  
"I'll have to thank you, Shikaku. The medical manual of the Nara clan was extremely useful. I can only imagine how difficult it must've been to put it all together."

Shikaku gave a brief nod at the Hokage. "Thank you." he spoke with a small smile.

"Tsunade-sama!" yelled Shizune as she ran down the hallway towards her mentor. Panting deeply once before standing at attention. "Hyuuga Neji.. He's in a stable condition!" she said in a rather upbeat tone. Shikamaru's clenched hands loosening slightly in his pant pockets as he sighed softly in release. Shizune's face in the meanwhile grew dark as she resumed her report.

"I've also received information that Hatake Kakashi is approaching Konoha along with Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto appears to be severely injured and is in a highly critical state." she said with a worried look in her eyes. Tsunade's eyes widened at the news as she quickly shot up from her seat on the bench.

"Gather a full medical team and prepare treatment room 5 right away. GO SHIZUNE!" she yelled as she clenched her left fist tightly. Shizune gave a quick 'Hai!' before dashing off into the hallway she came from.

Tsunade turned to Shikamaru as she calmed herself a little. "Shikamaru. It seems your first mission as Chuunin ended up in a failure. Dispite Naruto's condition, I am certain he will survive along with everyone else. That's the most important part."

Shikamaru finally cracked as tears started streaming down his face, trembling slightly. "I promise.. Next time, I'll carry out the mission perfectly!" he spoke with a cracked voice. Tsunade nodded once before she ran off towards the gates at the front of the hospital to await Kakashi and Naruto.

The moment she reached the gates she could already make out a flash of white speeding straight for her as well as the unmoving figure in his arms. "KAKASHI! Treatment room 5 is ready for him, lets go!" she yelled as Kakashi approached her. Both picked up pace as they moved through the corridors towards the treatment room. Tsunade flew through a set of seals swiftly and held her left hand over Naruto's chest wound. The hand glowing a soft green as she analyzed the gaping fist sized wound.

They soon arrived at their destination where Kakashi carefully laid Naruto down on the prepared table and glanced once at the boy and then at Tsunade. A slight bow of his head as he stepped out of the room. The doors closing behind him and the light sprung on, he moved over towards the bench and leant up against the wall next to it. A short sigh passing his lips before he reached into his kunai holster and took out his favourite orange book.

_'Sasuke.. How far do you intend to go for your revenge? To betray your friends, kill them even?' _he mused before deciding to calm himself by reading from his book. His expression soon returning to it's usual neutral state.

* * *

On the other side of the doors, the medical team had already removed Naruto's torn jacket and several markings were drawn across his body. Five lines of markings all leading to the gaping chest wound. Shizune stood above the boy with confusion and most of all shock clear in her eyes.

"How can anyone still live with such a hole in his chest? Any other person would be dead already.." she said while looking at Tsunade who was finishing the last preparations.

"Exactly, any other person would have. The reason he has not, is because of the Kyuubi's regenerative abilities already healing his wound as we speak. Our first concern right now is to fix the damage done to his lung and stopping the bleeding before closing the wound. The remaining internal damage will come after that. Shizune, I need you to clean the wound and stop the bleeding as I heal his lung." Tsunade said while already forming seals quickly before laying one hand un top of the other just above the gaping wound of the blond, her hands glowing brightly green. Shizune nodded and gave a quick "Hai!" as she follows her mentors lead, flying through seals and folding her hands with their own green glow inches away from Tsunade's.

Both mentor and student were focusing hard as a beads of sweat were forming on Shizune's forehead, already exhausted after the several hour procedure she went through with the Hyuuga.

"Tsunade-sama, why are we not using the method we used for Hyuuga Neji to regenerate his cells and heal the wound more efficiently?" she spoke with a slightly strained voice, but still keeping her breathing even.

"Because we know too little about the rate of which the Kyuubi's chakra is healing his wound, thus using such a large scale regenerative technique has a risk of backfiring. Not too mention yourself and a large number of medical nin are exhausted from the procedure. The best we can do is directly boost the Kyuubi's regenerating ability while concentrating on healing the most severe damage first." Tsunade replied in a calm voice, yet her expression betraying she was all but calm.  
_'Was he actually trying to kill Naruto? The wound nearly pierced completely through him. Damn it, Sasuke!'_ she mused while gritting her teeth, focusing on Naruto's lung first as she said was the priority while also analyzing further damage done.

A couple of hours later the sliding doors opened as Tsunade emerged from the fifth treatment room. The door sliding back shut behind her while both Kakashi and Shikamaru, who had joined him only half an hour earlier, looked up at her. Certain she had both their full attention her lips curled into a smirk as she gaze a brief nod.

"We've closed the hole in his chest," she paused for a moment as she glanced at the Nara who's eyes widened at that, however she didn't grant him time to process it as she resumed. "the internal damage in the right side of his chest will take time and a lot of rest to fully heal. He's out of life-danger now after we healed the most severe internal injuries, however the mended parts are prone to tear just as easily if he doesn't rest. His head also seems to have taken a heavy blow, but other than a severe concussion there seems to be no further injuries other than scrapes and cuts." Tsunade crossed her arms while speaking to her audience.  
A light chuckle escape her as she said "Also, he'll be happy to know that dispite the holes in his hands, he will still be able to eat his precious ramen."

Shikamaru looked at the Hokage in disbelief at the extend of Naruto's injuries for a brief moment. He had already recovered to his trademark bored expression while waiting for the Hokage, and other than his brief surprise he gazed lazily at her. "So, it seems this mission seemed to be doomed to fail from the start wasn't it?" he spoke in his usual dull tone, yet a hint of frustration was mixed into it.

"Why is that, Shikamaru?" asked Kakashi as he and Tsunade looked over at him.

"It's troublesome, but.. We were told to bring him back alive, with or without force. Setting out considering him a fellow Leaf-nin that went missing, none of us even thought about killing him. Considering Naruto's state it seems that Sasuke however was more than ready to kill any of us if we tried to stop him. We would have had more chance at killing him than returning him alive." Kakashi nodded slowly in agreement.

"So it would seem. I can only imagine only jutsu that Sasuke knows that could have caused that large chest wound, Chidori." he finished with a sigh and a slight hint of shame, knowing full well he taught the Uchiha that move.

"We'll discuss our conclusions in my office later on, I expect a full report form both of you in three hours from now. Dismissed." The Hokage said. "Naruto's is resting from the procedure and won't be allowed any visitors for today, the same goes for both Chouji and Neji. You're free to visit the rest of your team to see how they're doing, however." she said with a gentle smile before turning around and walking back into the room while the other two left. _'What I would do for some sake right about now..'_ she mused as the doors slid shut behind her again.

* * *

**Two days later.**

Groaning lightly, Naruto slowly opened his eyes a little before flinching them shut again while shooting his left hand up to his head groaning in pain. _'Ugh.. My head.. Where the hell a-..' _

"Sasuke!" he yelled, interrupting his thoughts as she shot up in the hospital bed. Flinching in pain, yet this time the source more so seeming his chest he crashed back against his pillow while blankly staring up at the white ceiling. _'Sasuke, why..?' _he thought to himself while closing his eyes again as the fight with the Uchiha flashed through his mind. A completely lost look in his eyes as he thought about what Sasuke had said during their fight, and his cold emotionless demeanour while he said those words. Sasuke had referred to him as his closest friend, which only confused Naruto more. _'What meaning is there in killing your closest friend?'_ He shook his hand against his pillow in denial. _'No.. He wouldn't kill me, I'm still alive aren't I?'_

Continuing his inner discussion he didn't notice the door to his room opening, only snapping out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar feminine voice. "N-Naruto, you're awake!" sounded the surprised Sakura with a smile, yet her eyes betraying her downcast mood. As she slowly walked over to the bed Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he remembered his promise, his now failed promise, he made to Sakura. Before Sakura could say another word Naruto averted his eyes from hers and spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry.. Sakura. I failed to keep my promise, I couldn't bring him back" Upon hearing this Sakura had to fight away her tears as she gazed down to the ground, trying to keep a strong face she looked up to the boy with a wear smile.

"Don't apologize, Naruto.. Tsunade-sama told me in what-in what state you came back to the village. I'm sure you did everything you could.." she spoke softly, remembering the words of the Hokage clearly.

**Flashback - Two days ago.**

"You mean I can't see him yet?" Sakura asked Tsunade as she sat on the bench. Tsunade stood next to her with a hand on her hip and the other on Sakura's shoulder.

"His body has been under a lot of stress, both from the injuries he sustained as getting the worst of his internal damage healed. He'll be moved to a room in the morning, but we're keeping him under close observation in the treatment room for now."

Sakura nodded slowly, twiddling with her fingers nervously while biting her lower lip. "W-what about Sasuke-kun? He didn't come back to the village..?" she asked quietly in a downcast voice. Tsunade frowned at the girl and lift her hand from Sakura's shoulder, letting it slide down along her side.

"Naruto is in there, recovering from a severe mortal wound and you're worried about Sasuke? Your 'Sasuke-kun' is the one responsible for the state of your team-mate, as he was trying to kill him!" sounded with a harsh tone to her voice. Glaring down at the girl who looked up at her with wide eyes.

"W-what? That has to be a mistake! Sasuke-kun wouldn-"

"Chidori." said Tsunade, cutting the pinkette off with a more calm voice this time. "Kakashi confirmed it, that wound is unlikely caused by any other attack than Chidori. A fist-sized open wound by something that tore easily through his flesh. Several minor burns around the wound caused by the surging electricity as the attack didn't fully pierce through Naruto's chest." Sakura could only look down at her fingers while fighting her tears to no avail, sobbing quietly.

**Present**

"Naruto.. Tsunade-sama told me that it was Sasuke-kun who did this.. That's not true is it? Please, tell her she's wrong!" she cried out as she couldn't hold it in. The past two days she had done nothing but thinking about the Hokage's words, desperately trying to convince herself it's all a mistake. Yet seeing the boy covered in bandages all over, hearing him groan as he tried to speak she was crestfallen by the clear evidence of Tsunade's words.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he noticed the pain in Sakura's voice. "O-of course he didn't try to kill me.. Sasuke would never do that, right?" he said weakly, trying to cheer the pinkette up. But also because he still truly wanted to believe that himself. He considered Sasuke as his brother, how could he just accept the possibility that he tried to kill Naruto? Even during such thoughts Naruto already felt the answer ringing in his ears. _"I consider you my closest friend, that is exactly why killing you will have meaning for me."_

Those words kept haunting Naruto, that cold expression on Sasuke's face. He meant every word of it, he showed no intent on letting the blond live throughout the entire fight.

Sakura was watching the boy closely. She heard the crack in his voice, but in her denial that Sasuke did this she interpreted it as doubt rather than a lie. "Why.. Why don't you say it like you actually believe that, Naruto? You know Sasuke-kun would never do that! He's our friend, our team-mate!" Sakura yelled, her watery eyes glaring down at Naruto who looked at her with wide eyes. His lie had been seen through.

_'Ofcourse she figured it out. I can't lie to Sakura-chan..'_ he thought as he decided to be honest with her. "Sorry, Sakura-chan.. It's true what Tsunade Baa-chan told you. Sasuke said tha-" he flinched as he was interrupting by a firm slap across her face from a furious Sakura.

"How dare you even try and say that! Are you trying to make me like Sasuke-kun less so you have a chance, is that it? Fine! If you've lost faith in Sasuke-kun and intent to break off your 'promise of a lifetime' then I'll go get him back by myself!" she spat at him before turning on her heel and stomping to the door without looking back at the boy that simply gazed at her.

The door slammed harshly shut and he slowly turned his gaze to the ceiling. His chest ached, though more so on the left than the right at the moment. He never had any intention of breaking, or giving up on, his promise even if Sasuke wanted to kill him and possibly would try again next time they met, if there was going to be a next time. It suddenly dawned upon him. When had he made up his mind, when did he convince himself? Since the moment Sakura started on the topic he was adamant in his opinion. His eyes watered slightly at that realization. _  
'He really did want to kill me.. Sasuke..'_ were his thoughts as the exhaustion of that confrontation took it's toll as he slowly drifted to sleep, tears rolling down his cheeks.

His sleep was restless, not only Sasuke but Sakura too haunting his dreams. He had never known family, he never knew the pleasure of having friends until after becoming a Genin even. And now, both the boy he considered his brother as well as the girl he has a crush on seemed to hate him. Their words repeatedly echoing through his dreams, their faces circling before him. Sasuke's scowling face and his cold eyes blurring out into Sakura's angry face, her words repeating in a venomous tone while glaring daggers at him.

What had he done so wrong for them to hate him so? Sakura he felt he could understand, he always went about yelling how it was his way of the ninja to never go back on his word, to never break a promise. And that's exactly what he did, he broke his promise by failing to bring Sasuke back with him to Konoha. But Sasuke, what did he do to Sasuke to be hated by him so? So much as to wanting to kill him even.

He suddenly found himself at Konoha's main gate. In front of him, outside of the village, stood Sasuke with a hateful look in his eyes and a kunai in hand, ready to attack him at any time. Behind him stood the villagers, with Sakura in at the front all glaring down at him. That same glare he always received from the villagers where ever he went. Was that how it was going to be? Was he going to be all alone again? He hung his head low and looked at the ground, gritting his teeth and clamping his eyes shut tightly as she saw his shadow. It was not one of a thirteen-year-old boy. It was the shadow of a fox with nine tails wavering in the wind.

_"Demon!" "Monster!"_ sounded from the mob behind him, the words he would always ignore yet could never forget. There was one voice from the crowd that felt like it boomed louder than the rest, a familiar voice only filled with hatred.

_"Liar! Useless, good for nothing liar!"_ It was the voice of Sakura, spitting venom like she had in his hospital room.

_"Dobe, that's what you are. Dead last. A drop out who's only skill is to be in the way and annoy people."_ came from his front, the harsh and cold voice from Sasuke. Gripping his head tightly Naruto dropped to his knees, screaming at them to stop as she shook himself while keeling over towards the ground. An object piercing into his back ending his dream.

His eyes shot open and he gasped, finding Tsunade standing over him who shook him a couple more times until she was certain he was fully awake now. He panted deeply, his upper body and face covered in a layer of sweat as he slowly pushed himself up a little. Looking at Tsunade, still speechless.

"Bad dream, hmm? You were thrashing like crazy when I came to check on you." she said as looked down at the boy with a slight look of concern in her eyes. Placing her hand over his chest, channelling her chakra through it in the form of a green light. "Good, you didn't damage anything with that thrashing of yours. God kid, even when sleeping you just know how to disobey my orders huh?" she smirked at him.

She sighed when no response came and sat herself down on the edge of his bed, she had expected him to be down over not bringing Sasuke back but not so far down the pit into depression. "Care to tell me what happened? Or what that dream-nightmare, was about?" Naruto shook his head slowly, looking up at the elder blond as she spoke in a uncharacteristic tone.

"It's nothing, Baa-chan. It was just that, a dream."

"And the thrashing and looks of agony on your face was just a genjutsu playing tricks on my mind, huh?"

"Okay, a really bad dream then.. Still a dream." came the muttered response from the boy. She flicked a finger over his forehead but this time without fusing any chakra in that deadly finger of hers. He flinched a little before looking back at her frowning face as she slowly stood up.

"As you wish. Well, you're doing just fine. I'll check up on you later when you've calmed down a bit so I can get a decent evaluation of your health." she said as she lightly grazed her hand over Naruto's head before turning towards the door. Before closing it behind her she looks back at him. "Don't bottle it all up Naruto. By the way you were thrashing, that was not just a dream. Bottling it up will do you no good." she said before closing the door and moved down the hallway. _'He's taking this harder than suspected. Naruto, what the hell happened at the Valley of the End?'_

* * *

In the meanwhile, elsewhere in the Konoha hospital the three Genin from Team 10 were gathered in Akimichi Chouji's room. The normally overweight boy who had lost a lot of weight as one of the effect his special soldier pills, one of the few positive effects according to a certain blond kunoichi, was sitting up in his bed with his back against the backboard. He seemed to be doing fine as his somewhat cheerful manner had returned not long after he had woken up.

Shikamaru was leaning back against the wall not far from the bed, arms crossed and one foot resting against the wall while he addressed his team-mate and best friend. "So when did the doctors say you would be discharged, Chouji?"

"Well the doctor said I should be discharged by tomorrow, but that I would still need to rest a lot. No heavy training for a week at least, preferably not at all. And Tsunade-sama said I wasn't to go on any mission for two or maybe three weeks as right now my body is still fragile from the degeneration caused by those pills." he said with a somewhat serious tone before breaking out into a smile as he continued. "Asuma-sensei said that he'd take me out for an all-you-can-eat barbeque dinner once I feel better too!"

The kunoichi sitting next to his bed in a comfortable chair sighed at this, frowning at her team-mate. "Chouji, you're not seriously thinking stuffing your face with barbeque the moment you're discharged are you? I mean, you look so much healthier like this. It would be such a shame to.. Eat your way back to your former..figure." she said, her voice growing more careful near the end as she struggles to not use the words that are considered 'taboo' around Chouji.

"What? It's a part of my training!" the boy responded quickly with a look in his eyes as if he trully believed that. Shikamaru looked up at Ino with a bored expression on his face.

"Troublesome woman.. You know that his size is vital for the efficiency for his ninjutsu don't you?" Ino instantly snapped her head up to glare at her lazy team-mate. "What did you just call me?" she yelled at him with shaking her fist lightly. Shikamaru decided to just keep quiet and look the other way now, muttering something about troublesome women in his life.

Chouji just smiled at the antics of his friends before deciding to change the subject for the Nara's wellbeing. "Shikamaru, how are the others doing? Has Naruto woken up yet?" he asked curiously. Though surprisingly it was not Shikamaru that answered his question, but rather his blond team-mate.

"For what I heard from the nurses they are all doing fine, even Neji who, like you, was in a critical state. Kiba is being released today, though I heard Hinata mention Akamaru still needed a lot of time to recover. And about Naruto, we met Sakura at in the lobby on our way here. She said he hadn't woken up yet, but he too should be fine with lots of rest. I wonder how he'll be once he wakes up, though." she said calmly stating the facts she had heard from around the hospital. All three went silent at this for a moment, wondering how it would feel if one of them did what Sasuke did.

"Hmpf, he'll likely be up and yelling he'll become Hokage in no time and acting like the hyperactive idiot we know." Ino looked up at Shikamaru and didn't seem convinced by his words but choose not to speak. Chouji, however, did.

"Do you think he'll go after Sasuke again even after what happened?"

"Probably, he's too stubborn to give up like that. But I have my doubts about his odds for success about this. That troublesome Uchiha clearly had no intend on returning to the village." Shikamaru said in a slightly aggravated tone, his respect for Sasuke diminished greatly as in his eyes he was well on his way to being a traitor to Konoha. Ino nodded slowly, seeming to ponder something.

"I still can't believe Sasuke would just leave the village like that, practically betraying all his friends and even his own team. I thought they'd become good friends since their team formed."

This earned a look from both boys as they noticed Ino didn't call him Sasuke-'kun' anymore. Shikamaru just let it be, thinking it to be too troublesome. Chouji looked at Ino curiously, but decided to join his best friend in simply not mentioning it. After another moment of silence Shikamaru eventually broke it.

"We should get going, visiting hours are almost over and Asuma-sensei told us he wanted to meet with us for some training." he said as he pushed himself off the wall and tucked his hands down his pockets. Ino nodded and stood up aswell, smiling at Chouji.

"Take care, Chouji. We'll be back tomorrow to pick you up when you're getting discharged." she said. The boy simply smiled and nodded. "You better make reservations for barbeque though, it's been too long already!" he said, earning a sigh from Ino and a slight nod from Shikamaru. "Later, Chouji." said Shikamaru before leaving his team-mate's room.

"Hey Shikamaru, you wanna go see if Naruto's awake yet?" Ino said as they walked through the hallways of the hospital. Shikamaru looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll stop by once he's awake. It'd be troublesome to visit his room if he's still out. Why the sudden interest in Naruto anyhow, I thought you disliked him?" said the Nara, receiving a frown from Ino as she responded in a higher-pitched voice than normal.

"Don't act tough, Shika! I know you want to know what the hell happened to him as much as everyone else. And even if I don't like him, he's part of the Rookie Nine. He's one of us, like it or not." she said. Shikamaru sighed and gave in to her, nodding as they changed their direction towards the blond's room.


	2. Chapter 2: Prologue: Aftermath pt 2

Done with rereading and tweaking the second chapter too. I'll make sure to get the other two sorted by tomorrow, and hopefull the first actual NEW chapter aswell!

Don't own Naruto, which is for the best really.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Prologue: Aftermath pt 2**

* * *

Naruto sat propped up against the backboard of his bed, staring blankly down to his feet as he kept recalling Sakura's harsh words as well as replaying that nightmare he had shortly after. He lifted his hands a little and looked down at them. The nurse had come in earlier to remove the old bandages and inspect his wounds, which seemed to look fine as she reapplied new bandages right after that. He had no clue when or how he had gotten those wounds in his hands, being fairly certain he wasn't stabbed there during his fight with Sasuke. Asking the nurse, she said the wounds were caused by a kunai. And by the brief looks he got he was fairly certain they pierced through entirely. After a moment he simply shrugged it off. _'Guess I was so busy fighting I didn't even notice getting hurt'_ he mused to himself.

He let his hands drop onto his legs again as he stared blankly out in front of him, letting out a sigh. _'Sakura was so angry at me.. I have to make it up to her. Next time I'll definitely bring Sasuke back home, dattebayo!'_ he told himself. At that moment he heard the door opening to reveal Shikamaru walking in. "Shikamaru!" he spoke loudly, glad to see his friend again after their mission.

"Oh, so you're finally awake?" said Shikamaru with a light smile on his face. Naruto's eyes fell on the second visitor that entered his room, a surprised look written on his face as he looked at the blond kunoichi.

"Ino? What are you doing here?" he asked both out of curiosity as well as a little defensively. He didn't like the blond very much. She was always fighting with Sakura over who was going to win Sasuke's heart. And she was loud, really loud.

"Hmpf, I didn't come here for you you know. Shikamaru wasn't going to bother seeing how you were without knowing you'd be awake, so I had to drag him here for his own good." she said with an annoyed tone as she sneered at the other blond and then at the Nara. A quiet sigh passing her lips as her tone softened only slightly. "Though I admit even I am glad to see you're doing fine." she added.

Shikamaru sighed at his two friends. _'Troublesome blonds..'_ he mused to himself before turning his attention to Naruto. "So Naruto, how are you feeling?"

The blond did his best to simply hide his mood, not wanting to burden his friends with his own problems that were, in his eyes, his own fault anyhow. He put up a smile as he responded to Shikamaru. "Ah, I'm feeling fine. Just sore in some places. Oh! How are Chouji and Neji doing? And Kiba? Are they alright?" he said in his usual loud voice as he questioned his lazy friend. Ino sighed and hung her head a little in response to his annoyingly loud voice.

"Damn, even when you're injured you're being loud. It's annoying." she glared at him before turning to Shikamaru, clearly not intending to inform Naruto as she did Chouji earlier. Naruto decided to ignore her and looked expectantly at Shikamaru, being more interested in getting his questioned answered than telling Ino that she is the loud one.

"You two are both loud," he stated, earning a glare and a swat over his arm from Ino.

"Did you just call ME loud?"

Sighing in defeat he turned to Naruto. "Troublesome woman.. Anyway.. Chouji and Neji were both badly injured in their fights against those Sound nins. Neji will probably be bedridden for the rest of the week, but he's doing fine. Chouji is being released tomorrow, but Hokage-sama has forbidden him any serious training and missions for two to three weeks to let his body recover from the damage done by those pills. Kiba was discharged earlier today to rest and recover further at home."

"That's great to hear. So we all made it back, huh? Oh, what about Lee? He helped me against that weirdo that tried to stop me." said Naruto, letting out a sigh of relief at hearing his friends were all doing fine.

"Lee? I haven't seen him around since we've gotten back."

"You mean that green spandex wearing kid? I heard he's obsessing himself over his training, yelling out that youth nonsense while he does. The training very much being against Tsunade-sama's liking." Ino said earning looks from both of the two boys. "What? Unlike you two, I actually talk to people! You should try it, it's called socializing." she uttered as she fumed at the two, folding her arms. Naruto grinned at Ino and didn't let this chance open.

"Gossiping, you mean."

"Just shut it, idiot." countered Ino almost instantly.

Shikamaru, once again being a spectator of the hostile exchange from the two blonds sighed and closed his eyes, trying to tune out their bickering. _'Man, these two fight more than my mom barks at my dad.. So troublesome..'_

Once both of them finally settled down Shikamaru decided to turn his attention to Naruto again in attempt to get his own curiosity sated a little. "So.. What exactly happened once you went ahead of me to chase after Sasuke?" he said, almost instantly feeling the mood swinging around completely. Naruto's face fell as he looked down at his hands with a sombre expression. Both the team-mates from team 10 noticed the blond going silent at the sudden change of subject. But before either could say anything, Naruto looked up with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head.

"Heh heh, well.. You pretty much know what happened, right? I couldn't bring him back, instead I got myself hurt and ended up here." he said with his usual upbeat voice, even though his mask was quite easily seen through.

"Oh come on, you're really going to keep it at that? You were out for two days straight and that's all you have to say about what happened?" Ino scolded. Being the gossip queen she is her own curiosity peaked the moment Shikamaru brought up the subject. Naruto looked up at the other blond and shrugged a little, keeping up his lie as he struggled to strengthen his mask. Something he'd grown so used to putting up, yet today it seemed impossible for him to make it flawless.

"I just got carried away and ended up getting reckless. That's why I ended up here, it was just an accident." he lied, much to Shikamaru's disapproval as he heard of the worst injury he sustained from Sasuke. He was about to response but was cut off by Ino who did it in his stead. Raising an eyebrow at the sudden interest the kunoichi suddenly showed.

"An accident?" she sighed before continuing. "You know, if you want to lie you really need to make it more viable and less obvious." she said. Naruto looked shocked at her for seeing through his lie so easily, even if he was having a hard time keeping up his façade.

"Believe it or not, it's true." he muttered quietly. In truth he really wanted to believe that it was true, but he couldn't get that hateful look in Sasuke's eyes out of his head. "Fine, whatever you say." said Ino with an annoyed voice.

Shikamaru cut in, also dropping the subject just as his blonde team-mate seemed to have. "Oi, Naruto. How long have you been awake anyhow? We ran into Sakura earlier on her way out and she said you weren't awake yet." This caused Naruto's mask to crack, he sighed and looked down again in defeat. Clenching his aching hands into fists as he pondered on what to say.

"S-Sakura-chan was here earlier? She must have just missed me waking up then, huh?" he spoke quietly, not even looking up. Ino, who had opted to use the chair rather than keep on her feet for much longer, frowned slightly at the sulking blond.

"Naruto?" she said softly. Suddenly she realized something and continued. "Worried what Sakura will say? She'll probably be sad Sasuke didn't come back with you, but relieved you're alright at least. Besides, aren't you too much of a stubborn idiot to label that ridiculous promise of yours a failure after just one failed attempt caused by some 'accident'?" she said in a surprisingly kind tone, one Naruto never heard from her before. Not directed at him, anyway. He smiled slightly at her attempt to cheer him up and for her miss-interpreting of the case, giving him a way out for now. He smiled half heartedly at her and nodded slightly.

"Hehe, I guess you're right. I must have been worried for nothing, huh? Thanks Ino.."

Shikamaru had quietly watched the blonds discussing the matter from his spot against the wall. He too thought Naruto was just worried about how Sakura was going to react about him not bring back Sasuke. But after inspecting his face closely as he spoke he noticed the sullen look in his eyes not changing at all as well as his nervously twitching fingers. He started pondering if facing Sakura was really what was bothering him so much right now.

_'Damn it, Naruto. What on earth happened between you and Sasuke. Even after failing the Genin exams for the third time you weren't this depressed.'_ he thought to himself. A sigh passed his lips as he continued his private chat with himself. _'Well, it's quite clear he's not planning to say anything.. It's troublesome, but I guess he needs some time to be alone.'_

"Oi Ino, we should get going. Asuma-sensei is waiting for us and we're already late. That way the knucklehead can get some rest, rather than being subjected to your third degree." he muttered in a bored tone, earning the usual glare from Ino for criticizing her.

"It's not a third degree, Shika! I'm just curious. But I guess you're right, we should get going," she then turned back to Naruto and continued. "When I see forehead, I'll tell her you're awake and doing fine. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that." she finished as she got up from her chair and followed Shikamaru who was already standing at the door, knob in his hand.

"Take it easy, Naruto. We'll talk later." he said, hinting to Naruto he wasn't letting up on getting to know more about what happened on their mission just yet. He then turned and left the room, waiting for Ino on the other side of the still open door. Ino grinned at Naruto briefly.

"I'll be back later as well so you can tell me I was right!" she said with a cocky voice as she waved and moved to leave the room as well.

"See you, guys. Try to not let the training be too troublesome, Shikamaru!" Naruto said with a wide grin as he waved his friends off. "Oh and Ino, thanks for bothering to cheer me up. Didn't know you cared." he added with an even wider and mischievous grin. He truly was grateful for Ino's attempt to cheer him up, it actually worked even though the blond was completely wrong about the whole situation.

Ino snorted at this and walked off after muttering "Whatever, you idiot." from the hallway. Shikamaru closed the door with a last nod at Naruto before joining Ino towards the exit of the hospital.

Care? Did she? No, of course not. She wouldn't care for such a numbskull and annoying loudmouth like Naruto. She just didn't like to see the normally overly energetic blond so deep down in the slumps like he had been when they got to his room. _'Even I have to admit I hated seeing him like that. Such a deep depression is so out of character for him, it's just not right to not try cheering him up. But calling that caring is going a bit far, he's still as annoying and loud as ever.'_ she told herself as she walked down the corridor until she was snapped out of her thought by her team-mate.

"So.. What do you think? Did he really tell us everything?" Shikamaru asked in a serious tone. His hands tucked into his pockets as they both exited the building. Ino shook her head lightly.

"No, he's definitely holding back on us about what happened on your mission. I still can't fathom how wild that mission must have been." she said calmly. She was both glad and sad about being left out of this mission. She may not have been of much help, no matter how painful that was to admit even to just herself, but she could at least be more of a help now if she'd been there. Shikamaru and Chouji might not have been so depressed as Naruto was, but they weren't much more open about this mission than the blond either.

"I'll ask Sakura if she can get anything out of him when she visits him." she said. "Anyhow.. Lets get going before Asuma-sensei runs out of cigarettes to smoke while waiting for us." she added with a smirk. She hated the habit, but couldn't help but enjoy mocking her sensei for it. Shikamaru nodded and kept to his own thoughts, silently agreeing about Ino's opinion of their sensei's troublesome habit.

Back in his room Naruto was leaning back down on his pillow, smiling slightly. Ino's attempt really did make him feel better, he even dared hoping again that Sakura was indeed just sad and reacted that way because of it. After all, she often used him to vent her anger and frustration so why not for this as well? He had also seen the blond kunoichi in a different light during her visit. Even though she was still as much of an annoying loudmouth as he thought she was, she did show a side he never expected from her. She was actually nice while trying to cheer him up, if you blank out the occasional 'idiot' and 'loudmouth' anyhow. _'I'll never admit she was right to her face though.'_ he mused. Knowing he'd never hear the end of it if he admitted to the girl that she was right about Sakura, no matter how much he was hoping that, in fact, she was just that.

* * *

On her way home from team 10's little training session Ino slumped slowly through the streets of Konoha. She sighed softly as several muscles ached even while walking at this pace.

_'Training, Hmpf, what a joke.. He just wanted us to run twenty-five laps around the training ground, do fifty push-ups and then another fifty sit-ups. Who would've guessed Asuma-sensei could be such a slave driver.'_ she thought to herself. _'Could it be because of that mission Chouji and Shika were on? Chouji did almost die after all, maybe Sensei's more worried about what happened than he let on.'_ she continued her reasoning before stopping in her tracks and folding her arms, sneering lightly at nothing in particular.

"Still doesn't justify that kind of torturous training. He should know better! I'm far too delicate for that kind of physical training!" she spoke up in her usual loud voice before beginning to move on again. Still fuming over her sore muscles she tried to adjust her pace a little to strain her muscles as little as possible.

After rounding the next corner she saw a tuft of pink in the distance. _'Sakura?'_ Well of course it would be Sakura, who else apart from her mother would have that colour of hair? She increased her pace as she ran up to her best friend / rival.

"Forehead!" she yelled out at the pinkette who turned around and raised an eyebrow at Ino, tightening her grip on her backpack slightly.

"What do you want, Pig? What are you doing here anyhow?" she said in an annoyed tone once Ino had run over to her.

"Calm it, Forehead. I happen to live around here and was heading home. What are you doing here however? I know for a fact you live on nearly the other side of the village. And what's with the backpack?" Ino asked, remaining surprisingly calm even with her friend's annoying attitude towards narrowed her eyes at Ino's third degree, being well aware of the gossip queen's insistence to know everything about everyone.

"Can't a girl have a late-night walk through the streets or something? I was just getting replenished my supplies, hence the backpack. I just decided to take a long detour on my way home."

"Even for a detour you're going the wrong way, Forehead. You're only walking farther away from your home in the direction you were walking."

Sakura sighed and let her frustration show quite clearly to her friend. "Well I didn't say I was actually done with collecting everything from my list or did I, Ino-pig? So just cut it with the third degree already, it's annoying normally but even more so this late at night." It was Ino's turn to sigh this time. She was simply too tired from Asuma's torture, which he called training, to continue this argument with the stubborn pinkette.

"Fine. Whatever you say, Forehead." Ino was about to turn and leave until she remembered something. "Oh, Sakura. Have you heard about Naruto yet? He woke up earlier this afternoon, you probably just missed him."

"He did? Oh, well that's good." Sakura said in a deadpan voice. It seemed no one had caught wind of what happened between her and her team-mate earlier, and she was planning to keep it that way. Which was going to be difficult with that queen of the gossip in her face. _'Wait, Ino hates Naruto so I'm sure she'll just let it be.' _she mused with a slight nod to herself.

"Wow Forehead, don't be too happy about it or anything. I just thought I'd tell you, I'm sure he'd cheer up a bit if you paid him a visit while he's not out cold." Ino said, narrowing her eyes a little at her friend. The sudden lack of interest for Naruto caught her attention. Even though she knew Sakura disliked the idiot as much as she did, Sakura is too much of a soft to not care about the well-being of people around her.

Sakura started to get a little nervous, she did not want to see Naruto but she damned as hell didn't want Ino to know what occurred earlier this day. And what was up with Ino anyhow, when did she start giving a damn about that stupid idiot? As much as she wanted to know, she figured it best to not confront Ino about it or this discussion would never end. _'I'd best just leave before she figures anything out.'_

She turned to leave as she waved goodbye to Ino. "I'll go pay him a visit tomorrow or something then, I guess." she said, the lack of interest obvious to her blond friend who wasn't content on leaving at that just yet.

"Ey, Sakura.. You're not angry at him for the fact Sasuke didn't come back, are you?" Sakura stopped dead in her tracks at Ino's question, biting her lower lip nervously. She clenched her fist what was out of Ino's sight before turning back to the blond slightly.

"N-no, of course not. I'm just rather tired, that's all. I'll just go see him tomorrow then." she said reluctantly. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get going and go home. See you later, Pig." she finished before turning around again to walk off.

"Sure Forehead, see you later." was Ino's response, watching Sakura leave for a moment before turning on her heel herself to finally go home and to her comfortable bed. _'What was up with Forehead not wanting to see Naruto? Maybe she really is blaming him after all. I'll go see if she went to visit him tomorrow while Chouji is getting discharged.' _she thought to herself. After all, blonds have to look out for one another from time to time. At least that was Ino's reasoning for going out of her way for that annoying idiot.

* * *

The next day Ino was on her way to the hospital, Chouji was getting discharged this afternoon and Asuma promised to take his team for barbeque on his costs. Or well, he promised Chouji. While Ino was happy Chouji had recovered enough to be out of this depressing place, she did not look forward to another one of his eating frenzies. Even if his body fat is put to use for his jutsus, it felt like such a waste to her that he would forsake his slender figure for it. She knew Asuma agreed with her on this, but he had already resigned himself to the fact that the Genin was not going to change.

She greeted the receptionist as she passed through the lobby and went straight towards Chouji's room. Her conversation with Sakura the night before bothered her still. She had a feeling her pinkette friend was by no means intending to see how Naruto was doing, she didn't seem to care much for it even. Something happened between those two, she was sure of it. And there was no possible way she was going to remain clueless about what it was exactly. She soon found herself in front of Chouji's room and opened the door to walk in.

Her friend was already fully dressed in his usual attire, sitting on his bed seemingly waiting for something. Or someone. Shikamaru, as usual, was leaning back against the wall next to the bed with his arms crossed, head hung low and his eyes closed. On the end of the bed stood Asuma with a content look on his face and something between his lips that made Ino's eyes narrow and twitch slightly in annoyance of her sensei.

"Asuma-sensei! Why do you have that disgusting thing between your lips? This is a hospital, you shouldn't smoke in here!" she yelled out before even greeting her friends. Asuma simply rubbed the back of his head while looking away from his short-fused student.

"It's not even lit, Ino.."

"Hmpf! Even so!" Ino said, resulting in a slight sigh from Asuma and also from Shikamaru.

"Troublesome woman, you're being noisy." he spoke while looking up with a dull expression on his face. Asuma was just quick enough to catch Ino by her arms to stop her from charging the Nara. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU LAZY IDIOT?" she screamed while Chouji just laughed cheerfully at his team's antics.

Once Ino calmed down again she focused her attention to her team-mate. "So Chouji, what are you gonna do once you get out of this place? And.. Why were you three waiting anyways?" Chouji smiled widely as he knew exactly what he was going to do first thing he got out.

"To eat barbeque of course! Asuma-sensei's treat!" he uttered loudly.

"And we're waiting cause that troublesome doctor is taking ages getting Chouji's discharge papers so he can leave." Shikamaru added in a much more calm tone than his best friend used.

Just as Shikamaru had said that the door opened and the doctor walked into the room with the discharged papers ready to be signed. "I'm sorry for the wait, I was held up a little. I hope the waiting hasn't been too.. Troublesome?" she said with a knowing smirk on her lips. Ino giggled as she watched Shikamaru sighing and removing him from the conversation with the woman completely.

"Only for one of us, I assure you." The doctor chuckled lightly to the blond's response before she handed Chouji the papers and point at two lines with a pen before handing it to the boy.

"Akimichi-san, please sign there and there. Then you're free to go, just be careful not to put too much strain on your body yet."

Once they had all left the room on their way to the exit of the building or, in Chouji's words, on their way to the barbeque restaurant. Once they were in the lobby Ino walked past the exit towards another wing of the hospital as she stopped and turn around.

"Hey, I'm gonna go see if Sakaru went to visit Naruto yet. I ran into her last night and she said she would." she said to the other three in a calm tone.

Shikamaru scowled slightly at her plans. "You're going to go and gloat about being right to him, aren't you?"

"Actually, I was planning on making him tell me I was right. More fun hearing it from others, even more from a stubborn idiot!" she grinned widely as she waved the boys an her sensei off. "I'll meet you in at the restaurant in a bit." she spoke calmly as she walked off. She could hear Chouji loudly agreeing with her plan to join them at the restaurant later, meaning he wouldn't have to wait. She did not, however, hear her other team-mate's muttered 'Troublesome woman' as she left. Asuma sweat dropped and sighed at the antics of his three students.

Her reasons for going to see the blond wasn't quite what she claimed to be. Sakura's lack of interest in the boy still bothered her, and she wanted to confirm her suspicions for herself. Though, if she had misinterpreted it she would be more than happy to fall back to the idea of making the boy admit she was right. She did after all love being told that. As she approached the room she suddenly heard a feminine voice shout loudly from inside, but it definitely was not Sakura for what she could make out.

"GET BACK IN BED RIGHT NOW, YOU DAMNED BRAT!"

* * *

The voice that boomed out from inside the room was none other than Tsunade's. She had come to check up on Naruto's condition only to find him next to his bed doing push-ups.

"Ne, Baa-chan. I'm fi-" he was cut off as she had already made her way over grabbed a handful of his hospital gown and pulled him up to glare him deep into his eyes.

"You are not fine! Your wounds may have closed just fine, but your body has far from recovered from the damage that was done. Now .." she growled at him threateningly, his eyes pierced by the death glare she was shooting him. Sweat rolled down the back of his head he nodded meekly at her order uttering a quiet "H-hai.." as he crawled back into the hospital bed.

"Seriously, you've only just recovered from a mortal wound. What on earth were you thinking doing push-ups?" she said as she put her hands on her hips, not keeping her eyes off of the boy.

"Because, Baa-can, I need to get stronger if I want to keep my promise to Sakura-chan and bring Sasuke back to Konoha! I can't just lay in bed doing nothing while he's probably already training now as we speak!" he said seriously, yet his voice seemed to crack briefly as he mentioned Sakura. Tsunade sighed and flicked the blond on the forehead with her index finger.

"And you expect to train effectively while your body is so sore you'll just incapacitate yourself if you get just a bit too much pressure on your chest? Naruto, you had a damn -hole- in your chest. Even a part of your lung was torn apart. You can't expect to recover from that in just a matter of a few days, not even you." she started with a frustrated voice but when she noticed the blond taking in her words she softened her voice a little near the end.

Ino was on the other side of the door listening closely to the exchange inside of the room, her eyes widened in shock when she heard just how extreme a wound he had sustained out there.

_'How did he ever survive even getting back to the village? And to imagine he was actually seeming to do just fine physically yesterday, not counting the fact he looked like a mummy'_ she thought to herself as the voices died down after Tsunade's scolding of the boy. She couldn't help but feel some admiration for the boy, it was remarkable how he was able to even get out of bed on his own so soon. And then there was that determination to carry through with that promise he made to Sakura just before the mission.  
The respect for her fellow blond easily went from near non-existent to far beyond the respect she had for Sasuke at the moment. Even though she lost a lot of respect for the Uchiha, it was saying a lot that one of his biggest fans found Naruto deserving more respect than Sasuke.

Inside the room in the meanwhile, Naruto was still taking in processing what Tsunade had said. She had made it sound as if he would collapse the moment he would work a sweat basically. _'But.. I felt fine while doing push-ups. Maybe Baa-chan is just worrying too much.'_ he mused to himself. He agreed with himself that was the case and just nodded slightly, thinking he'll just have to be more careful about getting caught next time.

As if reading his thoughts Tsunade glared at him and flicked him across her forehead again. "Don't force me to set up a schedule for watch-keeping just so you don't go and rip your insides with your stupidity you brat." she said with a sigh, closing her eyes. "No training until I say so, got it? I know you heal faster than anyone else and I bet that if that wound was all you had you'd probably be up and about already. But your entire body has been under severe stress, from both the fight with Sasuke and the procedure to heal your internal damage." This resulted in a slight defeated nod from the blond. She knew that deep down even he himself realized he wasn't doing fine. _'Just too stubborn to even listen to his own body.. He takes a bit too much after that idiot team-mate of my own.'_ she mused with a content smile.

"So.. Basically I just can't move around too much by myself, right?" Naruto said with a mischievous grin across his lips. Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the boy, expecting the boy to try and pull something anytime now but she gave a quick nod. At least the brat had understood that much of what she said. The mischievous look only grew worse as he made a seal with his hand for his favourite jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled as a shadow clone formed next to his bed.

This alone popped a vein on Tsunade's forehead, clenching her right hand in a fist as he completely ignored what she told him after all. When his clone and himself started to form a Rasengan in his palm she snapped smacking him over the head hard before the sphere had grown too large for such interruption. The clone quickly jumped back, shivering in fear at the angry woman. "Damn it kid, did you even at all listen to what I said? I SAID NO TRAINING!" she growled loudly at him, her fist ready to deal out a second punch should he fail to choose his words well.

"Baa-chan! That hurt.." he whined as he rubbed his head where her fist had connected hard. "And I'm still gonna train!" he said with a wide, taunting grin. Before her fist could connect again his clone had pulled him away quickly and jumped in between to take the blow before dissipating in a puff of smoke.

She gritted her teeth at the swift use of his clone as she glared daggers at the infuriating blond. "When I said no training I mean, and this is the last time you annoying little brat.. !"

He stuck out his tongue and gave her a taunting face by pulling some skin below his eye downward with his index finger. "Like I'd let you stop me, you old hag!"

Ino's eyes went wide again as he heard Naruto signing his death warrant right then and there. Tsunade's voice boomed from out the room again loudly. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, BRAT?!" followed by several sounds that Ino could only relate to being something hard connecting with something.. hollow. Two panicked squeals from the blond boy was the last she heard as it went deathly quiet inside. _'I can't believe he called Tsunade-sama an old hag.. That idiot.' _she mused to herself, finding it rather entertaining to 'witness' from this side of the door.

The smirk on her face faded fast as she could hear footsteps approaching the door. She quickly jumped back a bit and decided to pretend she was just arriving. The door opened to reveal a frustrated Tsunade walking out of the room. She sighed deeply. "Annoying brat.."

"Naruto giving you a hard time, Hokage-sama?" uttered Ino while fighting back the urge to laugh at the whole ordeal. Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the younger blond and put one hand on her hip, the other resting along her body.

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation, Ino?" she asked with a stern voice as she addressed the young kunoichi. Ino gasped lightly and quickly raised her hands protectively, shaking her head.

"N-no, of course not! I just came over to see how he was doing!" she stuttered out nervously, well aware of the intimidating older woman's habit of pounding sense in someone.

Tsunade stared curiously at the girl before deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I see. Well, you shouldn't go in right now. He's.. Ahem, resting." she coughed at her obvious lie but her dangerous glare dared the younger girl to question her.

Ino simply nodded at her. "I-I see. Well, I'm sure he's doing fine so.. I'll be off then!" she said quickly.

"Why were you so interested in how Naruto was doing, if you don't mind my asking? Quite sure you two don't exactly appreciate one another." came from the older blond before Ino could leave. Ino sighed softly as the Hokage's voice didn't sound quite as threatening as it did earlier.

"Oh, I was just wondering whether or not Sakura had come to see him yet. She told me last night she would, but she was acting kind of weird and didn't seem too interested in how Naruto was doing." she said calmly, looking up at Tsunade without as much nerves as earlier.

"Sakura? You mean she hadn't seen him yet since he woke up yesterday?"

Ino nodded at her and explained that Naruto and Sakura both claimed they hadn't seen one another yet since he had woken up.

Tsunade pondered on this for a moment, remembering the state she found Naruto in. He definitely had woken up once already and had fallen back to sleep, which was a much more normal occurrence than the brat climbing out of bed to do push-ups.

"That's strange, when I came to check up on him yesterday he was sleeping restlessly. He definitely had been awake before already, though they could have just missed each other by a few minutes." Tsunade stated, crossing her arms as she pondered on it.

"But Naruto was acting so depressed when Shika and I paid him a visit yesterday, and Sakura was acting so weird last night. I think something happened between them and I want to find out what." Ino said but suddenly found herself under that same strict glare as before.

"Ino, if you're trying to figure out something that may be juicy gossip material I'm telling you right now to stop it. Even if something did happen, it's between Naruto and Sakura." she said in a stern voice. "I have to get back to work, so unless there is anything else?" she added in the same strict tone.

Ino nodded her head at the Hokage's order, then shook her head after. "N-no, that's all Tsunade-sama. My apologies for bothering you with my ranting." she said nervously, bowing to the Hokage before taking her leave herself. She realised just how scary the Hokage could be if she wanted to be. She shuddered at the thought of calling Tsunade an old hag.

_'You'd have to be really stupid to call someone like Tsunade-sama a hag. Really, really stupid..'_ she mused to herself, chuckling quietly at the squeals she heard coming from Naruto's room after having said that. Forgetting about the blond idiot for now, she made her way to the barbeque place to meet up with her team. She was rather late, but knowing Chouji she was far from being too late.


	3. Chapter 3: Discoveries

Finished looking over chapter 3 whilst slacking off from schoolwork. Still facepalming myself at how many typo's slipped past all this time.

I'll make sure to get chapter 4 up by tonight aswell.

Still don't own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Discoveries**

* * *

Early on in the next morning Ino was already making her way, albeit at a slow pace, towards the hospital. Her team-mates had given her an idea, one she had been playing with in her mind herself aswell, on how to sate her curiosity concerning the blond idiot and whatever happened between him and Sakura. Even though the suggestion was rather insulting in her opinion, she had to agree it was very tempting to go with.

Chouji was the one that eventually told her to just get it over with and do as he thought was on her mind already. Her families abilities to wander one's mind. It was rare for Chouji to be so blunt about something. She had wondered if it had to do with her calling Naruto an idiot the entire time, knowing her team-mates and the blond were friends with one another. Or if it was that her endless ranting on the subject had gotten him curious about it himself.

She had argued half-heartedly with both of them on their ways home, while internally debating with herself whether or not to do it. During the evening she had decided to go with it. After all, it involved her best friend and if it was something bad she wanted to make sure Sakura was going to be alright.

Sakura had mentioned before that the blond was far from a morning person. In fact, she remembered clearly how Sakura had complained how the idiot would have to be dragged out of bed for a mission past noon. With this in mind Ino decided to go early in the morning so she could carry out her plan without getting caught by the blond. Not to mention that going through his memories would be much easier if he was unconscious.

Once at the hospital she snuck herself past the receptionist, knowing full well that visitors weren't allowed yet for several hours still. After stalking her way over to Naruto's room she entered and carefully closed the door behind her. Turning to look into the room she saw Naruto sprawled all across the bed, a trickle of drool running down the corner of his mouth.

'_If it weren't for the drooling, he'd almost pass for cute..'_ she mused to herself as she stared at the blond for a moment. Shaking herself from those thoughts quickly with a shudder. This was Naruto, the loudest and most annoying idiot of Konoha! He was definitely NOT cute!

Sitting down in the chair next to his bed she took a few breathes, nerves finally getting to her. She was, after all, about to go against her clan's rules concerning the uses of their mind-walking jutsu's. This was a private matter, and thus sneaking a peek into the boy's mind was strictly prohibited. After composing herself for a moment she shook herself from her last half-hearted doubts as she formed her hands in a seal in the form of a window.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Ino's body fell limp into the chair she sat there. As she opened her 'eyes' again she found herself in Naruto's mind. While she hadn't transferred her mind often to someone else, she had figured the mind of people generally looked very much the same. A corridor of sorts with certain points leading to a certain memory or bundle of memories.

That didn't seem to be the case for Naruto's mind however. A chilling shiver shot down her back as she took in the surroundings of what seemed to be a sewer. The walls were a dark sombre colour, and the surface was covered in ankle-deep water. She couldn't fathom how an upbeat, hyperactive prankster could possibly have such a depressing mindscape, with such a cold sensation flowing through it. Taking a few moments to shake off the uncomfortable feeling she got from the unexpected state of the boy's mind she eventually set out to explore it.

After moving through the disheartening mindscape she came across a small inlet in the wall to her left. She could barely take a full step into it as she was blocked by a wall with a small square window in it. She places her hands against the wall and looked out through the window. She closed her eyes briefly in concentration and as she reopened them she found herself in the middle of Konoha.

"_Get the hell out of my store, monster!" _She turned to the voice and saw how a small blond boy with whisker marks across his cheeks was thrown out of a clothes store, followed by the furious looking owner.

"_I don't serve the likes of you, now get lost!" _came from the man as he glared down at the boy.

The man's yelling soon had drawn a lot of attention as a crowd had gathered around the boy. Nearly every single person in the crowd frowning as they saw the cause of the disturbance, their frowns soon turning into hateful glares. Murmurs of 'monster' and 'demon-scum' passing through the crowds.

"_Why won't you sell me any clothes?"_ said the small boy Ino had instantly recognised as Naruto. He stood up and turned to the crowds that kept glaring menacingly at him.

"_What have I ever done to any of you?" _he yelled again before turning on his heel and running away. The crowd dispersing as he passed through them, his eyes closed so he could avoid all those cruel glares aimed at him.

Ino had been witnessing the whole ordeal completely dumbstruck, needing several moments to process what she just saw. She had to shiver at all of the cold glares the people sent at the boy.

'_W-what was that all about? Demon? Monster? Why were they calling Naruto such things?'_

She found herself back in the sewer-like mindscape again as she was still thinking of what she had seen. Naruto couldn't have been older than six, maybe seven at the most. Why was he being treated like that? Sure he was an annoying prankster, but she thought that was going a little far. To even throw him out of the store like that.

She shook it off for now, thinking it was only a one-time event and she moved on. _'I still have a ways to go to find the right memories.. But really, what the hell was with those hateful looks of everyone?' _she pondered while moving further ahead, soon finding herself at another indent in the wall on her right and a bigger pathway to her left, in which she could spot several similar windows as the one from earlier and the one she could see to her right.

She set out going past all the windows she came across. Most memories weren't anything worth of remembrance to Ino, bar the ones that were similar in certain ways to the first memory of Naruto she saw.

She noticed there were two surprising consistencies amongst his memories. One being the cold, hateful glares he seemed to be getting almost the entire time from almost every villager and even the majority of Leaf Shinobi. The other was what disturbed her even more than the hate of the village towards him. In each and every memory bar a few where he was eating at Ichiraku's or the occasional moment where the Sandaime Hokage was talking to him, he was alone. Completely alone.

She knew he had no parents, as it wasn't anything close to a secret on the Academy. But apart from the old man Teuchi, his daughter Ayame and the Sandaime Naruto spent his entire childhood all alone. She would see in memories from later on in his life that as he joined the Academy he had one more person around him from time to time. It was their teacher Iruka, the only teacher that treated Naruto as an equal to the other students.

Moving on to the next window to Naruto's memories she had already figured these were all from his early childhood, his more recent memories likely to be further back into the eerie mindscape. She decided this was the last one she would look into, feeling bad enough by all the things she had to witness in the blond's memories.

As she opened her eyes she gasped in shock at the sight before her. The blond boy was being pummelled by two older men and a fifteen-year-old boy. Naruto was cringing on the ground, kicks sent at him as well as the occasional broomstick swing at him.

Ino couldn't believe what she was seeing, this was going many times farther than those silent glares always sent at him. She watched in horror as the three villagers left the beaten boy laying in the dirt and walked away, several threats and the regular insults of 'demon!' shouted back at him.

Only a few moments after the three had left him, the boy slowly struggled to push himself back to his feet. Wincing and groaning in agony all the way up. Ino was seething from her spot as a mere spectator to this horribly event.

'_I-Incredible.. Even after such a beating he still pulls himself to his feet..' _Ino thought to herself. Her anger briefly lifted in nothing but respect as well as concern for her blond class-mate. Watching as the boy left the scene, muttering something about how things would be different when he became Hokage in the future. A smile crept across her face, recognising those words instantly from the Naruto of the present. Always yelling that he'd become Hokage no matter what. His determination was beyond admirable she thought.

After finding herself back in the sewer she began to set off again, ignoring the windows she came across as she moves further to the back. Hoping to find his more recent memories there. She couldn't stop thinking about all the things she had seen so far, how much verbal and physical abuse Naruto had been put through for no apparent reason at all.

Leaving her train of thoughts she began feeling guilty for the way she had treated her fellow blond in the past. She had been no better than the adults. In fact, only a small hand full of their class treated him normally apart from mocking his poor skills as a ninja.

'_Maybe I should be a little nicer to Naruto once in a while.. When he's not acting like an annoying, loud idiot that is.'_ she mused to herself with a slight nod.

It wasn't long before she found herself at the end of the tunnel, walking into a rather large oval-shaped area of the sewer. Several windows seen along the walls, shaped slightly different from the previous ones.

'_This must be where his more recent memories are, I hope. I've had quite enough of this place..'_

Ino walked up to a randomly window and placed her hands against the wall. A bad feeling washed over her as she closed her eyes. Not sure if she wanted to find out what happened during the Sasuke-retrieval mission or what happened after that. She had never seen the boy as depressed as he was two days ago, while he had so much reason to be down in the slumps. Whatever happened must have been even worse for him than his childhood, and Ino wasn't certain she wanted to see it anymore.

It seemed she had chosen the one window she had started this mental invasion for. She opened her eyes to the sterile white room of Naruto's hospital room. The blond's eyes opened and after a short ten seconds he shot up screaming "Sasuke!" before wincing and crashing back into the bed in pain. Ino facepalmed at his antics, even when just waking up from being mortally wounded he was hyperactive to start off with.

"_N-Naruto? You're awake!"_ sounded from the pinkette standing in the door opening, who slowly stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

'_I knew it! They WERE hiding something!' _yelled Ino in her mind, crossing her arms as she let the scene play out before her.

The conversation between her best friend and Naruto picked up slowly, with obviously Sasuke as the subject. She blinked in surprise as Sakura suddenly slapped him harshly across the face mid-sentence and started yelling at him with a venomous tone. Ino's eyes narrowed at she listened to what Sakura was spewing at the blond before leaving his room with a loud slam of the door.

Her gaze switched back to Naruto, who lay in his bed completely destroyed emotionally. She watched as tears formed in his eyes and dripping down his cheeks before she closed her eyes and cut the memory off from here, returning herself to the eerie sewer.

Again Ino had to take several moments to compose herself from yet another bad memory from the blond. Now she knew what happened between the team-mates that caused both of them to act so strange. A scowl formed on Ino's face at Sakura's words, and the sheer hostility she showed to Naruto.

'_What the hell was Forehead thinking.' _

Ino let out a frustrated sigh as she moved over to the nearest window. _'Can she really not see the error in Sasuke's ways? Is she that blind? Heh, and I thought Naruto was a hopeless idiot.'_ she continued her musings.

As she stood before the next window she let out a deep sigh. The fight, if it could be called as much, between Naruto and Sakura revolved completely around Sasuke. Naruto had actually seemed somewhat adamant in his opinion that Sasuke was fully intending to kill him. This sparkled her curiosity sky-high once again, even though she was feeling weary of all she had seen thus far. This, however, was the last piece to a puzzle which quite a number of people would like to see solved whether they would admit it or not. With a last sigh she closed her eyes in concentration for the last time.

When she re-opened her eyes to look into the memory the first thing she saw in front of her was Naruto, using his chakra to slowly climb on top of the water's surface. Behind her, up top of the statue of Uchiha Madara stood Sasuke with his arms crossed and a smug expression across his face.

"_Have you noticed yet, Dobe? I'm not even using my Sharingan, you're not worth it because you are weak."_ Ino flinched at the raven haired boy's words. Was Sasuke always this harsh and arrogant? If so, why had she never noticed before?

It was then that Ino noticed something off about the blond. His chakra seemed to skyrocket, it also felt very different from his normal chakra. It was exactly like during the Chuunin finals in his fight against Hyuuga Neji. However, unlike in his fight with Neji he seemed to be going through some changed physically as well.

His fangs began to grow slowly until they protruded his lips, in the mean time his nails were growing out into seemingly razor sharp claws. His hair had become much more wild as well and the birthmark whiskers were no longer mere lines but had grown more pronounced and ragged-looking. The picture was complete when Naruto opened his eyes, no longer showing the cerulean blue eyes but instead they were blood red with slits down the middle.

Feral. That was the only word fitting his looks right now, thought Ino while gaping at the blond with wide eyes. She had little time to look confused at the blond, as he sped off at a high speed towards Sasuke. It seemed the blond was too fast even for Sasuke now as he punched his square in the face before the Uchiha could even respond.

Naruto seemed to be taking the upper hand as he was giving his raven haired friend a most painful beating. Even with his Sharingan activated he couldn't defend himself against the feral blond. Eventually Sasuke crashed into the ground higher up with Naruto lifting him by his collar.

"_I'll drag you back to Konoha even if I have to break your damned legs. You hear me, Sasuke?"_ she heard the blond say. Even his voice had become feral, growling out in his anger.

It was then that Sasuke seemed to snap, kicking Naruto off of him while yelling several things at him in a harsh, cold tone dripping with hatred. His Sharingan was changing slightly as the third tomoe was formed in it earning a curious look from Ino.

The results of the seemingly small change was instantly noticeable in their fight. The moment the Sharingan changed into it's fully matured state, Naruto had been unable to land even a single punch on the Uchiha. The dodging game of the Uchiha didn't last long as he soon launched his own offensive at his blond 'friend'.

'_T-this is insane! I never would have thought their fight had been this intense. Those punches they __throw at each other would be enough to put most people out instantly..'_ Ino was rocked out of her stupor by a loud scream coming from high up the cliff where a huge wall of flame surged through the air. Ino's eyes widened as she recognised the voice as Naruto's, was he in the middle of that jutsu?

Before the smoke curtain caused by the fire cleared, two figured flew out of it at a high velocity. Sasuke had a tight grip on Naruto as they crashed down into the stone ground beneath them, Naruto taking the majority of the crash with his head which made Ino flinch. Only to once again end up staring in slack jawed amazement as the blond forced himself slowly back up to his feet.

'_H-how can he still get up after that, how is even still alive? His brains should be splattered, his neck shattered..!' _Ino was losing her focus on the fight for a moment again as she was debating with herself how it looked like Sasuke was indeed trying to kill Naruto no matter what.

"_CHIDORI!"_ boomed through the air coming from the raven haired boy. Ino looked up to see the most horrifying sight she had ever seen. Before her stood Sasuke, with his hand completely pierced through the right half of Naruto's chest. Sasuke's body was completely covered in strange, creepy black spots. The same ones she saw covering his body in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin Exams. Only far more malice and murderous intent was dripping off of him than way back then.

Sasuke dragged his hand back through the wound and clamped it tightly around Naruto's throat, squeezing his air pipe completely shut. Ino could only stand and watch with a horrified expression at the display before her.

Naruto's hand shot up and gripped Sasuke's wrist tightly, instantly pulling the hand off his throat as red chakra slowly began to leak out from him. Managing to pull himself free, Sasuke jumped several meters back to gaze in shock at the sight before him.

Naruto was exploding in tremendous amounts of chakra, growing stronger and stronger with every passing second. The wound on his chest closing at a rapid pace, barely taking even just ten seconds to completely regenerate. Ino's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at what she was seeing. Unable to even process it properly she just stared at Naruto as he took up a fighting stance with the red chakra gone at the moment, glaring fiercely at Sasuke.

"_Forget breaking your legs. I'll break every fucking bone in your body if that's what it takes to put some sense into your thick skull!"_ screamed the feral blond loudly, his voice carrying something of a demonic tint. One look over at the Uchiha revealed that he was in as much shock as Ino was, completely frozen as a thick layer of blood red chakra began to form around Naruto's body. The blond screamed out in pain as the chakra began forming into bestial claws over his hands, and long pointy ears over his head, and as last a tail grew out behind him.

The chakra enveloping Naruto felt even more sinister than that of Sasuke's when he was covered in those creepy black spots. It felt evil, with an inhuman desire for blood.

Naruto fell forward and landed on his hands, taking up a different stance very akin to that of the Inuzuka clan. Ino failed to register even half of what occurred before her as Naruto lunged at the Uchiha, turning the tide of the battle yet another time with a relentless assault on Sasuke. She shook her head a few times and pinched the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes, trying to calm down from her continuous moments of shock and taking a few deep breathes.

She opened her eyes when she felt Sasuke's chakra spiking all of a sudden. She looked up to see the black markings expand over more and more of his skin until it completely covered him. As the glow of the markings died off, she could see that Sasuke had gone through a transformation because of it. His hairdo had expanded greatly and slightly changed colour into a sickly greyish blue, his lips having gained the exact same colour. His eyes were black apart form his red Sharingan and a pitch-black shuriken shaped mark in the middle of his face running from his forehead down his nose and below his eyes. Both his teeth and his nails had extended a little as well, forming them into small fangs and claws.

Ino had barely taken in the new look of the transformed Sasuke as she suddenly blinked her eyes open wearily, looking up at a sterile white ceiling. She rubbed her eyes once before opening them again to see the same white ceiling. It took a moment to realize she was back in Naruto's hospital room. She looked over to the boy to find none other than Tsunade standing over the boy with her index- and middle finger pressed against his forehead.

She glared furiously at Ino, who instantly broke out in a sweat out of fear for the female Hokage. Knowing full well she was caught red handed by the older blonde.

"My office. Ten minutes. S-C-R-A-M!"

* * *

Ino stood before the Hokage's office, frozen in place in fear of the older blonde. While Tsunade stayed behind after shooing her off, she was certain that the first thing she'd see on the other side of the door was that terrifying glare. She shuddered once and took a deep breath, better to not be late or it'd be even worse she figured as she opened the door and slumped into the office.

She instantly felt a wave of killer intent wash over her as she was indeed met with Tsunade's eyes, glaring furiously at her. Ino gulped slightly as she walked to the front of the Hokage's desk, remaining quiet and trying to avert her eyes even just a little from the intimidating woman.

Tsunade sat back into her high chair, arms crossed in front of her and a scowl adorning her face. She opened her lips to speak, but rather than the screaming Ino had expected it came out in a low growling tone.

"What. the HELL. were you thinking?"

"I-I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. I let curiosity ge-"

"CURIOSITY? You're telling me you invaded a fellow Leaf Ninja's mind cause you were CURIOUS?" yelled the older blond at her. "What the hell was so important about Naruto for you to break several rules and laws for, huh?"

"The issue I mentioned to you.. About Naruto and Sakura. I was so certain something occurred between them, I allowed that curiosity to convince me of Chouji's words."

"Akimichi Chouji? Was this his idea?" Tsunade asked, a surprised look on her face.

"No! No, it wasn't! He was just fed up with me never leaving the subject alone and said I should just do what he thought I had in mind already. I guess.. he was right. But.. I only wanted to know so I might help them if I knew what was wrong." said Ino in a somewhat calmer state of mind. She was relieved she was at least getting some chance at explaining herself.

"Save it, Ino. You of all people should know the responsibilities that your clan carries for their mind-walking Jutsu's? Didn't Inoichi tell you never to use it on an ally without any form of permission or consent from the target?"

"Of course he did! Daddy made it very clear to me that as part of the Yamanaka Clan we have to respect other people's privacy more so than others." Ino stated, hiding her by now trembling hands behind her back.

"Then why did you do it anyhow? Did you even realize what would happen if someone else would have caught you invading the mind of a fellow nin? Even one such incident can destroy the trust towards the Yamanaka's. Mind-readers are difficult to trust if even one of their Clan-members has already proven they can slip up!"

Ino flinched at this, she hadn't even thought of the consequences for her family. She considered she could get punished when caught, but not about anything else. Her knees buckled a little as she looked down.

"I-I'm really sorry.. Tsunade-sama.. Please don't punish my family for this!" she said desperately, slowly looking back up at the older woman.

A sigh passed Tsunade's lips briefly. "I'm not going to punish anyone. Yet. I want you to tell me everything you saw in his mind, everything." she said in a serious tone, looking expectantly at the younger blonde. "And for goodness sakes girl, grab a chair before you collapse. You'll be here for a while anyhow, I assume."

Blinking in surprise for a moment, Ino quickly went to take a seat in the high back chair. She hadn't expected to be shown such a small mercy, but she was glad to relief her buckling knees of her weight for now. She twiddled with her fingers for a moment, avoiding eye contact with the Hokage. She thought of all she had seen in Naruto's memories. All those horrible things that the people of this village had put him through. "I'm.. Not sure where to even begin."

"You've seen more than just what you were looking for, didn't you?" the Hokage sighed, rubbing her temples briefly before looking back at the girl. "Just begin where your little mind-invading adventure began. And Ino, don't leave anything out."

Ino took several moments to replay most of the things she had seen, still unable to comprehend any of it. She looked up at Tsunade with a sad expression, surprising the older blonde.

"W-why.. Why did everyone treat him like that, Tsunade-sama? I know he was an annoying prankster.. but everyone seemed to hate him just for being alive more than just his silly pranks.." she uttered in a trembling tone.

Tsunade sighed softly again. _'I was afraid of this. She's seen a lot of his past as well.'_

"Ino, just tell what you've seen for now."

Ino began to explain in detail everything she had seen in Naruto's memories from when he was a small boy still. All the glares and looks of disgust he received, how often he would be called things that to her made absolutely no sense at all. Or that barely any store in the whole village would even allow him to be inside, let alone buy anything at all.

Tsunade was aware of the boy's childhood to have been extremely difficult, but some of the things she heard surprised even her. The boy had received frequent beatings by grown men and left in the dirt after that. Thrown out from the orphanage many times if he wasn't being forbidden to join on their small events such as story times or games. She could see that guilt was washing over the younger woman in front of her as she was talking. She decided to ask the girl about it, giving her a short reprieve from thinking about everything she saw in his past.

"I've always been mean to him as well. I was just following the crowds by ignoring him and seeing only his annoying pranks. Many of my friends' parents kept saying to stay far away from him, and we just did. Even when we became Genin I never stopped to even try to get to know him, only seeing him a an annoying idiot that shouldn't even be a Shinobi." Ino said while folding her hands over her lap, her eyes watered as she speak but she fought back the tears constantly.

Tsunade smiled slightly at the girl in front of her. Maybe some good could come from her little rebellious act if she would try and see Naruto for him rather than a nuisance. If that were the case, she might be just a little lenient on her punishment of the girl in favour of her, while she'd never admit it openly, favourite Genin.

The two blondes then resumed discussing the remaining memories Ino had looked into, explaining how Sakura had completely chewed Naruto out for breaking his promise and doubting Sasuke. Tsunade raised an eyebrow briefly at the lack of Ino using the '-kun' suffix for Sasuke, but ignored it as they carried on. She hid her disappointment in the pinkette to Ino, but inside she was seething. She was clearly still thinking about that traitor of a team-mate only rather than the loyal team-mate that risked his life to bring her crush back to her. It most definitely explained the lack of Sakura's presence the past few days, while she visited at least twice a day before he had woken up.

Then finally, Ino moved on to tell the Hokage about the fight between the two team-mates. How intense it had been and that Sasuke seemed fully intent on killing the blond right then and there. Tsunade didn't interrupt the young woman before her the entire time, until Ino was talking about how Sasuke had pierced his hand completely through Naruto's chest which led to a chain of event she still couldn't comprehend.

The image was burned into her eyes and she described the scene in full detail of how Naruto exploded in a massive amount of chakra all of a sudden. The almost instantaneous healing of his chest wound and his almost demonic sounding voice. Tsunade leaned forward with her hands on her desk as Ino explained how a thick layer of blood red chakra coated the boy's body slowly, taking forms of claws around his hands as well as long ears above his head and a tail behind him.

"T-Tsunade-sama.. That red charka, what the hell was that? It-it felt so evil, bloodlust was dripping off of it. It didn't seem like Naruto to emit such a sickening killing intent.." Ino stuttered slowly, shuddering in her chair as she recalled how terrifying that strange chakra had felt.

Tsunade sighed deeply and rubbed her temples again. The girl had seen far too much about Naruto and the prisoner locked inside of him. However the description of how the red chakra had manifested troubled her, something she would have to discuss with Jiraiya when she saw him. Another deep sigh passed her lips as she made her decision.

"Ino.. There are things about Naruto that I think you should know after having seen all of this." She waited for a moment till the young blonde looked up at her with wide eyes before continuing. "The village has an S-classed secret which involves Naruto. All of the adults know about this, which is why Sarutobi-sensei, the Sandaime, instated a law forbidding everyone to ever talk about it. Punishment for breaking this law, was death."

If possible Ino's eyes would have bulged open even wider as she was listening intently to Tsunade. She was about to explode in a barrage of questions, but the Hokage cut her off as she raised her hand for silence.

"Tell me, what do you know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked Konoha thirteen years ago?"

"H-huh? We were taught about it at the Academy. The Yondaime gave his life to kill the demon and save the village, which is why the Sandaime was reinstated as Hokage at that time. What does that have to do with any of this?" Ino asked with a trembling voice.

"Yes, that is indeed what is being taught at the Academy now. That is not the entire truth of it, however. Not even the Yondaime Hokage was strong enough to kill the Kyuubi. Instead, he gave up his own life to seal the demon away into the body of a newborn boy." Tsunade paused briefly as Ino gasped in shock, something she felt she had been doing far too often for her liking today. "As you by now might already assume.. That boy, is Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

In the meantime Naruto was harshly awoken when something large crashed down next to his room, the noise and rumbling cause for him to shoot up in his bed. Without much thinking he crawled out of his bed, wincing once as his bare feet touched the icy cold floor, and walked to the windows. Pushing the curtains aside he opened the window and looked outside.

Just next to his window stood a tall white haired man, on top of a large toad Naruto had not seen before. The man had his arms crossed over his chest and a smug look on his face as he grinned down at the blond. "Yo, Gaki!"

"Ero-Sennin!" yelled the boy in response as he opened the window further for the old Sannin to come in. He then walked over to his bed to crawl back inside.

Jiraiya jumped off the toad's head and landed inside the window frame, where he sat down with one leg leaning on the frame and his other foot down on the small strip of concrete beneath him. He looked over at the blond with a serious look on his face, which was only rarely seen on the old pervert.

"I came to talk to you about something important. From here on out, I'll take you on as my student and train you personally for the coming three years." he said with a rare seriousness in his tone.

"Three years? B-but why?" Naruto asked, eyes wide in surprise. Even while they were looking for Tsunade, Jiraiya never gave Naruto his undivided attention.

"I've gotten some information regarding Akatsuki," he paused for a moment to see if he had the boy's full attention. "They will start moving and come after you in three to four years, we will use that time to get you into shape and able to defend yourself against them." the Sannin said calmly.

"Like I care! Like there's any time to worry about the future right now. There's no time for me to go and train! I have to go after Sasuke as soon as I get out of here, he could be killed by Orochimaru at any time!" the boy yelled, seemingly adamant in his refusal to train under Jiraiya.

A smirk crept across Jiraiya's face as the blond yelled at him. "Oh, so you know about Orochimaru's plans concerning Sasuke's body do you?"

"Eh? You know about it too, Ero-Sennin?"

The Sannin nodded slowly in response. "I've been researching Orochimaru's Fushi no Jutsu. I've found out that once he has used it, he can not use it again for at least three years. And according to my spies he had gotten impatient and desperate while waiting for Sasuke, and was forced to transfer into someone else's body instead. So.. It'll be alright for three years at least. We've got time."

"That's not a lie, is it? Is it?" came from the blond in a desperate voice, looking hopeful at the white haired man.

"No, it's the truth. However.. You should just forget about Sasuke. Tsunade already informed me of the whole situation. Sasuke went to Orochimaru by his own will, he choose to take that path. Whatever you'll do, you won't change his mind. He's got a lot in common with my old team-mate in that aspect. If you're thinking of helping him, forget about it. It's foolish."

"I don't care what you say or think about him! I still see him as my friend!"

Jiraiya glared at the boy for half a second before responding in a scolding tone. "Do real friends hurt each other? Look at the state you're in, he was trying to kill you!"

The blond fell silent instantly, look down to avert the Sannin's eyes.

"I know how you feel and what you're going through, Naruto. But you can't let any of this drive you. You're no normal kind, you are the Kyuubi's container and you have Akatsuki after you because of it! But.. If you refuse to listen to me and still do it your way and go after Sasuke then I guess that's the only way. However, keep in mind that some day you will have to face people far more dangerous than Orochimaru. Give up on Sasuke."

"I don't care what's going to happen. I don't care if I have to life like a fool. I will still become stronger than Sasuke, create better and more powerful Jutsu's than he'll ever make and drag his ass back to Konoha! He's just being an idiot right now, and I'll be the one to pound some damn sense into his skull! And.. I'll beat those damned Akatsuki guys as well! All of them!" Naruto yelled with a convinced determination in his voice and beaming of his face.

Jiraiya's eyes widened briefly at the start of Naruto's speech, slightly surprised at how convinced of himself he sounded. He slowly looked away, shaking his head while his fists clenched tightly. The boy would simply die on his own, being the idiot that he is.

"If you would go at it alone.. The best you could come up with is some sort of useless perverted little Jutsu. But.." he said as she jumped off the hospital building and landed on the head of the toad that was still there. Looking out over the horizon while crossing his arms.

"An idiot will always be an idiot. But maybe even an idiot can still do something good. Once you get discharged from the hospital, get ready you idiot! We'll leave as soon as you've recovered fully. I'll be seeing you then, Gaki!" he boomed loudly.

"YOSH!" screamed the blond out loudly, saluting his new sensei with his trademark grin on his face. A slight nod came from Jiraiya before his toad leapt off into the distance, leaving the blond to his thoughts for now.

* * *

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Naruto has a powerful demon sealed inside of him?" Ino asked in a high pitched voice, her hand covering her mouth slightly in shock.

Tsunade sighed once before looking at the shocked girl in front of her. "Yes, Ino.. That's exactly what I was saying. The Kyuubi is sealed in Naruto's body. That is the reason why everyone in this villages has treated him like you have seen in his memories. It is why he is who he is."

"B-but why would they hate him? Even when he was still a small boy? It's not like he had any fault in anything the demon fox did!" Ino yelled out. Having been told only lead to more questions than it answered and made things only far more confusing.

A small smile crept across Tsunade's lips as she listened to the young blonde. "I just have one thing to ask of you, Ino. How will this affect your view on Naruto? Do you share the opinion of the majority of this village, that he is a demon? Bidi-"

"That idiot? A demon? Hah! He's too brainless and cheerful to have anything demonic about him. Even a demon couldn't pretend to be THAT stupid.." Ino said while chuckling lightly, mostly trying to calm her own nerves after everything she had seen and heard today. She heard a small chuckle from the Hokage and looked up at her smiling face, receiving an appreciative nod.

"I am glad to hear that, Ino. He always hides himself behind his mask of happiness, but behind that mask rests a very insecure boy. He's afraid to let anyone know about his prisoner, fearing they would hate him like the villagers." said Tsunade with a warm smile. His friends would have to find out sooner or later about his secret if he was being targeted by Akatsuki. Having Ino figuring it out early, and seemingly accepting it, could help greatly for Naruto's confidence for telling the rest of the Rookie Nine.

"I want you to tell him everything, Ino." Tsunade added with a slightly more serious tone, smirking in amusement as the blonde before gasped once and looked at her with a slight fear in her eyes.

"W-what? You want me to admit to him that I- that I took advantage of his sleeping state to invade his mind and look into his memories..?" she asked with a slight trembling in her voice. She wasn't afraid of the boy at all. She did fear having to come clean to the boy and apologize to him however. Fearing the rip it would take out of her pride, apologizing to that idiot.

"That's exactly what I want. Consider it punishment for your transgressions. And don't leave out that you know about the Kyuubi either. Besides, I'm sure you have countless questions for him on that subject."

"As you wish.. Hokage-sama." Ino responded in a low murmur. Not at all looking forward to that little ordeal, even though she did feel like asking him more about his situation. And maybe she would even apologize for how she treated him all these years, just maybe. No need to get the idiot any ideas in his mind.

"Good. Then get going before you have any time to come up with a nice story so you can fool him in not blaming you for anything." said the older blonde with a teasing grin. "Oh, and if he decides you should receive more punishment.. I'm sure that Konoha's most famous prankster could think of something by himself." she added in an amused tone.

Ino gulped at that final remark and nodded meekly, hoping that Naruto would be as forgiving to her as Sakura claimed that he always was to her. _'Damn it, Forehead. Abuse his crush on you like that! Something that'd be useful for me now, though..'_ she mused to herself. She slowly stood up from her chair and bowed before the older woman.

"I shall take my leave then, Hokage-sama." she said and turned on her heel to leave.

"Make sure to report back when you're done, Ino. I want to know how he responded to you finding out about his secret."

Ino gave a curt "Hai." before exiting the office, on her way to the hospital albeit reluctantly.

Tsunade smiled to herself as she watched Ino leave. Leaning back against her chair as she gazes at the ceiling in deep thought. _'That girl might just help him with his burden a little. She took it surprisingly well.' _she thought to herself. _'Too big an idiot to possibly be a demon, huh? I'll need to keep that one in mind.'_ she added with a light chuckle. Behind all those insults she could've sworn she saw that the young blonde had grown some respect and maybe even concern for Naruto. She grinned playfully while reaching for the drawer where she stashed a small bottle of sake. _'Oh yes.. This might turn out to be fun.'_

"TSUNADE-SAMA!"

She was just taking a sip from her sake when Shizune frantically barged into her room. The sudden commotion causing her to bend over and spray the sake out of her mouth, almost far enough to soak her apprentice in.

"Damn it, Shizune! What is it?" she barked, annoyed that the woman had once again managed to keep her from drinking her sake while at work.

Shizune frowned briefly at her master's drinking habit, but pushed it aside as she looked serious at the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama.. Haruno Sakura has gone missing!"


	4. Chapter 4: Truth time!

Here you go, fourth chapter done too! Still working on the fifth, but it'll be done either tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Still don't own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Truth time!**

* * *

Unaware of what was going on in the Hokage's office, Ino was slowly pacing over towards the hospital to face her fellow blond. Just like earlier in the morning, she was moving towards her destination reluctantly. She was supposed, no ordered, to go and admit everything to Naruto and even apologize.

She shuddered at the thought. Not only was she admitting fault to that brainless idiot, Tsunade had left it up to the biggest prankster Konoha ever knew to decide her punishment on breaking several rules. She didn't even want to think of all the crazy things he could possibly come up with. No, she'd much rather not mention it and face Tsunade's wrath instead.

Her thoughts slowly began to drift to all she had learned of today. Naruto's childhood, the Kyuubi and all the hate it caused towards the boy even now. She again felt that hint of respect for him. Even after all that hatred and abuse he endured, he managed to remain a cheerful person. Seemingly happy even. She frowned at the villagers who had treated him so poorly, calling him a demon.

'_Hmpf.. If he really were a demon, he'd have killed those assholes that beat him up all the time. In fact.. They were the monsters, doing such things to such a small boy.'_ she thought to herself. Her pace slowed even more as pondered on what to tell the boy. How was he going to respond to her betraying his trust in his friends by invading his mind? Let alone his reaction when he learns she knows about his darkest secret. Maybe she would start with that bit from the get go. Naruto would most likely be extremely uncomfortable the moment she tells him she looked into his memories.

'_Best to assure him I don't hate him because of the sealed Kyuubi within him. He's still the same idiot in my eyes, not a demon. A loud, annoying idiot.'_ Ino mused, nodding to herself with a slight smirk spreading across her lips. She would not admit, however, that she had grown a lot of respect for him today.

She was brought out of her train of thoughts as the receptionist greeted her. She waved a hand at the woman and greeted her back. She gulped nervously as she walked towards Naruto's room. She was so lost in thoughts she hadn't noticed she was at the hospital already. And she still had absolutely no idea of what to say. One part of her mind was being reluctant to actually having to admit fault and apologize to the idiot. While at the same time she had a lot of questions for him. And another small part of her even thought she should try be more nice to him, to make up for how she treated him at the academy.

A deep sigh passed her lips before she pushed the door open. Finding Naruto sitting straight up in his bed, with surprisingly less bandages covering his head.

"Oi, Ino! What are you doing here?"

Ino cringed at the loud voice, frowning annoyed at him. "Quiet down, you idiot. This is still a hospital, you know." she said, sighing deeply as she entered the room. She looked him over and noticed how not a single scar marked his face at all. She figured that must be the extent of the Kyuubi's regenerative powers.

Naruto crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her, pouting a little. "Hmpf.. Came to annoy me again, have you?" he said in an almost taunting sounding voice.

Resisting the urge to honour that remark with a response she normally would give, she pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down on it. Sighing deeply again as she looked at the boy.

"I assure you, I could think of better ways to spent my time than to come here and 'annoy' you."

"Then why are you here if not to annoy me?" Naruto said while curiously looking at Ino, his eyes then widened a little as he showed his trademark grin. "Oooh! I get it! So you do care!"

"Whatever. I came here cause Tsunade-sama told me to." she said without thinking. Her hand quickly shot to her mouth. She didn't know what to say still, and wanted to postpone that subject until she did. Too late now, it seems.

"Baa-chan? What did I do this time that she sent YOU as my punishment?" he nearly shouted while pointing at Ino in accusation.

"It's not about what you did but what I-… WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" she shot out from her chair and raised her flat hand in the air, glaring furiously at the annoying blond before her. She watched him flinch back slightly which caused images of all those times he got beaten up to flood her mind. She sighed and let her hand drop to her side before sitting back down. Her anger subsided a little, but she still glared at him.

"I know how hard it is for you. But please.. shut up for a while. She didn't send me to punish you, okay?" she said while trying to calm down. She very much preferred doing this with a level head, and the infuriating boy didn't make it easy for her to do so. She was slightly surprised at how he suddenly looked more serious.

"Huh? Then why did Baa-chan tell you to come here? Is something wrong?" he asked in a more serious tone. Sensing she had his full attention now, she took a deep breathe before looking him straight in the eyes.

"She sent me as punishment to myself. To.. Confess something."

Naruto simply gazed blankly at her, clueless to what she was talking about. He was about to ask her about it, but she raised her hand to cut him off. A soft look in her eyes he wasn't used to receiving from a lot of people, least of all the blonde kunoichi sitting in front of him.

"Just let me talk for now, alright? This morning, I did something I'm not particularly proud of. Something I both do and do not regret." she said in a low tone, her nervousness growing by the second. She averted her eyes from Naruto's as she continued.

"You and Sakura had been acting really strange since you had woken up two days ago. I was certain something occurred between the two of you and wanted to find out what that was. Then there was everyone's reluctance to give any real details on that mission you all went on. I was fed up with knowing so little and.. I let my curiosity get the better of me. While you were asleep this morning, I snuck into your room. I then used.. My Shintenshin no Jutsu on you to look through your memories."

Only when Ino was done talking, she dared a take a look at Naruto's reaction. Her heart sunk to her feet at what she saw. She thought he'd be angry at her, yell at her even. But what she found instead was far worse. He had paled considerably and his whole body tensed up.

"W-why? W-w-why would y-you..do that..?" was all Naruto could get passed his lips. How much did she see? How much did she find out? Did she know about the Kyuubi? Would she hate him now too, just like the villagers? And would she tell everyone?

The questions were soon flooding his mind, but he was brought out of his stupor when Ino continued in a cracked voice.

"I-I know about it, Naruto. I know about the-the Kyuubi.." Naruto's eyes were hiding none of his emotions right now. Ino felt disgusted by her actions as she saw what was in his eyes. Pure fear. Panic.

He never wanted his friends to find out about it. Knowing they would all hate him if they learned about his secret. They would all hate him and he'd end up all alone again. He looked down at his hands and nodded weakly once. "I-I see.."

Ino's eyes had started to water slightly as she had gazed into those blue eyes, how the immense fear turned into pain before he looked away. She had never seen such hurt in anyone's eyes before, and he was only a thirteen year old boy! Only now did she begin to realize just how horrible his life must have been, far worse than what she made out from his memories.

"I-I don't hate you, you know!" she blurted out quickly, panicked by what direction this was starting to take. This caused the boy to look up at Ino, his eyes completely void of emotion.

"R-really?"

"Well, you're still an annoying , loudmouthed idiot." she started as she leant forward a little, a grin forming on her lips in attempt to lighten the mood even just a little. "But.. Other than that. No, I don't hate you. You're an idiot and not a demon, easy as that." she finished with a confident nod as she sat back against the chair.

Naruto's face was quickly regaining life as he straightened himself back up a little, though still looking completely flabbergasted. This was Ino, the most annoying kunoichi he ever met, most annoying ninja in general even! When they didn't ignore each other, they'd be in the middle of a verbal warfare with one another instead. And of all people, it was HER that claimed to see him for himself and not the Kyuubi? Even though her view of him wasn't exactly flattering, it was better than being hated and called a demon.

"Look.. I know you probably have a lot to think about right now with that pea-size brain of yours. But this silence is really starting to bug me." Ino said while crossing her arms, her grin was still gracing her lips as she had to resist laughing several times when he threw her another questioning look as if asking for confirmation. _'Damn he's slow..'_

His eyes narrowed as Ino threw another insult his way. Was this her way of showing she didn't hate him? By insulting him as always? That's when something dawned on the boy. She wasn't treating him any different it seemed. She was insulting him as she always did, being her annoying little self. Very slowly a grin formed on his lips as he looks at Ino again.

"Wow, Ino. You really know how to make people feel they're not hated. Oh, and I'm not loud. You are."

Ino raised an eyebrow at the blond before her. Did that brainless idiot actually use sarcasm? She was certain she'd never heard that from him before. She giggled softly, putting a hand over her mouth to try keep herself quiet. Once she stopped her laughing she looked at him with a wide grin, not planning to be outdone by him.

"Hah, I'll let that one slide just this once. Only cause you earn points for even knowing how to use sarcasm with that teeny tiny brain of yours."

"So you're actually admitting you're loud, Ino?" came the quick response from Naruto who was grinning back just as widely. Somehow her insults felt a lot more empty than they usually did, he was actually enjoying the verbal warfare.

"Hmpf, sure. I'll admit I'm louder than Hinata, but I'm not nearly half as loud as you are." was Ino's response. She too was for a change enjoying their fighting. The mood was a lot less grim than it was only minutes ago, plus it seemed he wasn't even going to ask her anything else about what she did. All in all, perfect for her!

"That's cheating! Even Shino is louder than Hinata." said Naruto, crossing his arms and pouting at the way Ino dodged his insult. Her only response was some giggling after which they fell into a more comfortable silence than they had before. Ino's words played in his mind a few times over. The more he thought about those words, the less insulting her found them. She always called him an idiot, and she still did. He dared glance over at the girl to see she too was deep in thoughts.

"I-Ino.. Did you mean what you said?"

Being brought out of her thoughts, Ino looked up at him and couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Of course I did, idiot. Do you really think I'd be sitting here talking like we are if I hated your guts?"

"I guess not. Thank you, Ino."

"W-what are you thanking me for? I should be apologizing to you, not being thanked by you.. I really shouldn't have done what I did, Naruto. I had no right to invade your privacy to such an extent." Ino responded while looking down, twiddling her fingers a little. It seemed her own conscience wasn't letting her get away with it that easy.

"Apology accepted." said Naruto with a dull tone. His fox like grin spreading wide across his face as he saw Ino look at him in disbelief.

"What, just like that?"

"Well.. Yeah. I mean, even though I'm not sure what to think of how you found out about that stupid fox. You're one of the very view that accepts me despite of it. And the fact that YOU of all people came to apologize to ME means you really must be sorry. So yeah, I forgive you." he finished with a cheerful tone, his grin nearly splitting his face in half as he himself was proud for the 'subtle' insult he threw in at the blond kunoichi.

Ino nodded slowly. His logic actually made some sense. It made her cringe inside that she could make some sense out of this idiot's logic. In the words of Shikamaru, troublesome. She didn't miss the little insult he added at the end however and decided to jab him in his side firmly once before crossing her arms.

"Thank you for forgiving me, really. But.. What exactly did you mean by 'me' of all people? Unlike you, I am capable of admitting my faults!" She was lying, and she knew it. But no way she was letting Naruto of all people mock her for it.

"Maybe you are, but does that include doing so to me if it's something small?"

"Okay, fine. I admit it took a tiny miracle and a very intimidating Tsunade-sama to have me apologize to you. Happy now?" she snapped at him, slightly frustrated that he looked right through her lies. Either she was losing her touch at lying perfectly, or he had more of a brain she suspected. Both were, in her opinion, very unlikely.

"Hmm.." was the only response from the blond as he struck a thinking pose. After a few moment her opened his eyes again and looked at Ino wearily. "W-well.. Could you tell me.. What you have seen while using Shinte-.. Your Jutsu?"

"It's called Shintenshin no Jutsu. But yeah, I suppose I could tell you all about your own memories." Ino said with a small grin, but it soon turned into a frown as she dropped her teasing to a more serious tone. "Are you sure, though? I-well.. I found out you don't exactly have many pleasant memories, at least not amongst of what I've seen in your head."

"It's fine. I just want to know what you've seen." Naruto said slowly while looking down at his hands.

"Alright. Well, first of all.. Once I had entered into your mind I was shocked by how cold it felt. To be blunt, it looked like a creepy old sewer with ankle-high water and arid yellow walls. I wasn't expected to find something so.. depressing as your mindscape, it seemed so contradict to how you act." Ino said calmly, but couldn't help the shiver shooting down her spine as she remembered that creepy sewer. Naruto looked up at her with a questioning look.

"S-sewer? Did you.. Find a sealed gate in there somewhere? Is that how you know about.. the Kyuubi?" he asked, his voice becoming more quiet near the end of his question but he didn't look away.

Ino raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Gate? I haven't seen anything like that, what about it? Wait.. You mean you've seen your own mindscape before?" she leant forward on the chair a little, her curiosity peaked.

"A few times when I was on the brink of passing out, I suddenly stood in the middle of the sewer you described. There are many paths to take, but I always ended at the same place. In front of a huge gate with a sealing tag on it. T-that is the cage of that stupid fox.."

Ino looked at the boy as he winced when he mentioned the Kyuubi to her, averting his eyes from her. She knew he'd likely be reluctant to talk about it, but he was clearly more uncomfortable about it than she thought he would be.

"You don't have to talk about it, Naruto. I haven't seen anything of the Kyuubi itself while looking through your memories." she said in a reassuring tone.

Naruto raised his eyebrows when he looked back at her, surprised that she'd not demand of him to spill it.

"Don't get me wrong, I do want to know more about it. But.. You're clearly very uncomfortable to talk about that 'stupid fox'. I'll be happy to listen if you're ready to tell, but I won't push you." Ino continued, answering the unasked question. She felt that this was one subject she couldn't get him to talk about just to sate her own curiosity.

Her fellow blond nodded slowly and straightened himself out a bit against the backboard of the bed. "So, can you tell me about what you -did- see in my head then?" he asked in an almost dull voice, a small grin spreading across his lips.

"Well if you'd for once keep your mouth shut and not interrupt me I might be able to!" Ino shot back at him with a snarl. Seeing the grin forming on his face didn't help either. The way he could go from a sombre state to his usual annoying self was remarkable, she had to admit. _'After all he's been through as kid, he can still so easily mask his discomfort with cheerfulness. That's quite amazing..'_ she mused to herself as she smiled slightly.

"Right, where was I before you got me sidetracked with your blabbering." she said while thinking of where to pick up. "Ahh! The creepy sewer I found myself in."

Ino began telling everything she had seen about Naruto's memories as a boy. She was beginning to become uncomfortable talking about it, but she had agreed to tell him. And while he was wincing or looking away every now at then at certain points in his less-than-fond memories, she could tell that he was listening intently to her every word. Her occasional insults and snide remarks about some of the villagers that mistreated Naruto helped lighten his mood considerably.

To him it was unusual and also pleasant to know that she so clearly disapproved of the treatment he endured even as a young boy. While he had several people that felt the same now; Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka, old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. He was certain that Kakashi felt the same way as well. However, none of them had uttered their disgust nearly like Ino had. For once, he was grateful for her usually annoying habit of speaking her mind.

Almost an hour had past when Ino was done with explaining her trip into Naruto's mind. At least the part where she had been looking into his memories from when he was six or seven years old.

"That's all of the memories I looked into before I decided I didn't want to see any more of it. That's when.. I started more actively looking for your more recent memories. Those weren't exactly.. less disturbing."

He had kept quiet for the majority of time while Ino was talking, but when Ino mentioned his more recent memories he began to think for a moment. His memories of the past week hadn't exactly been fond ones either. The fight on the roof of the hospital with Sasuke. Then the mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha followed by their fight at the Valley of the End. How much of this had Ino seen when she searched his mind? And did she see what happened when Sakura visited him just after waking up?

"Can I ask you something, Naruto? Did either of them know? About the Kyuubi I mean." Ino asked carefully, not in the least bit eager to remind the blond in front of her of his encounter with a certain pinkette friend of hers.

Naruto simply shook his read before responding to her. "No, I never told anyone about it. Though Sasuke might have his suspicions by now, I suppose.. Why'd you ask?"

"I was just curious if that might have had something to do with.. What they did." Ino said while clenching her fists. Sasuke may have been far beyond her reach, but she would definitely pound some sense into Sakura when she saw her.

Flinching visibly at Ino's response, Naruto looked away a little and began twiddling with his fingers nervously. While it wasn't nearly as bad a secret as him being the container of a powerful demon, he didn't really want people knowing about what had happened between him and his team-mates.

"H-how much d-did you see, Ino?" he asked quietly, nervously chancing a glance up at her.

Ino sighed and leant back a little. "I saw how Sakura yelled at you for, in my opinion, no good reason at all. She's blinded by that stupid infatuation we both used to have for Sasuke.. Oh, and before you ask. My admiration for him had ended the moment he left the village and nearly gotten my friends and team-mates killed who tried to bring him back." she said in with a slight growl in her voice. No matter how annoying he was, or how much she tended to hate him. He didn't deserve to be put in be put up with such worthless team-mates.

"S-Sakura-chan was right to be angry at me.. Not only did I break my promise of a lifetime to her, I told her I thought Sa-" Naruto was interrupted with a harsh slap across his face. He looked up with a shocked expression as Ino stood over him with her hands moving to her hips, like a mother would when scolding her child.

"Idiot! You don't seriously have doubts whether or not he tried to kill you, do you? If you ask me, it was more than obvious! I saw most of that fight, Naruto. He was fully intending to kill you off right then and there!" Ino yelled at him. She couldn't believe that even after all that he was still so loyal to them to try and give them the benefit of the doubt. While it was admirable normally, now it was nothing short of sheer stupidity.

Her expression softened a little when Naruto averted his eyes with a pained look in his eyes. _'Maybe I was a bit too blunt about it..'_ she thought to herself as she sat back into her chair with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. It's just that from where I stood, Sakura was angry at you while Sasuke was the one at fault. You were unconscious for two days straight, not even Chouji and Neji were out that long and they were in a highly critical state. But Forehead can't stop and look at the facts rather than think non-stop of the one that tried to kill her only LOYAL team-mate."

"I-if he wanted to kill me.. Then why didn't he? Sasuke isn't one to not make sure he did what he came to do.. So why then did he not kill me?" said Naruto in a cracked voice. That question was tearing at him every time he thought back of their fight. Deep inside, he knew Ino was right. He hated to admit it, but he too felt that Sasuke really did want to kill him. But he didn't.

Ino sighed and shook her head. Frankly, she hadn't a clue herself either. She wasn't exactly given much time yet to think about everything much. It was indeed rather strange that Sasuke didn't finish him, considering he was fighting in such a malicious manner throughout the fight.

"I really don't know. It doesn't make sense judging by how he fought. Maybe he wanted to let you slowly die by your wounds and left you for dead for that reason? I.. Wouldn't exactly put it past him. He looked so sadistic when he.. Transformed.." Ino said, filled with disgust as the image of the transformed Uchiha appeared briefly in her mind.

Naruto was about to respond, but fell quiet when Ino mentioned Sasuke's transformation. It was exactly like she described it, he enjoyed every second of inflicting pain on him and it got worse after he let the curse seal mark his entire body.

Noticing the lack of response from her fellow blond, Ino thought it best to change the subject. Even if just a little.

"Anyway.. I'll make sure to slap some sense into Forehead when I see her. Though I won't tell you to expect an apology, she'll probably hate admitting fault to an idiot as much as I do." Ino said with a playful grin. She frowned however when her attempt came without success, Naruto didn't even look at her. Before she could open her mouth again he spoke in a quiet tone.

"Did you.. See me using the K-Kyuubi's chakra as well?"

Ino was taken aback by this for a moment. He was still worried about what she thought of him and the sealed demon inside him?

"Yes, Naruto. I did see it." she began. The boy tensed up instantly as she said it, and she let out a deep sigh. "Look at me." she demanded with a firm voice. A satisfied smile playing on her lips when he obliged to her.

"I will be honest with you and when I'm done, you're going to stop that silly worrying of yours got it? Yes, it scared me at first when such an evil chakra was leaking out of you and later even enveloped your entire body. But for what little I could see, your eyes weren't filled with malice. And your expression definitely didn't either.

Now, when Sasuke transformed my stomach literally turned. While your, or well.. The Kyuubi's chakra felt pure evil. His felt disgustingly malicious, and the look in his eyes were no different. He was completely comfortable with using such a vile chakra, whereas you clearly were not. The evil chakra that I could sense coming from you didn't nearly bother as much as what I sensed from Sasuke. You didn't act like a demon at all, Naruto. But Sasuke was definitely acting like a monster."

Naruto was completely dumbstruck. While Ino had made it clear she had no admiration left for Sasuke, she hadn't even said as much as one kind word about him. And now she was simply calling Sasuke the monster, while he himself was the one with a demon locked away inside of him. Hearing that he didn't disgust her at all felt like a massive boulder was lifted form his shoulder.

"T-thanks.. Ino.." was all he could utter as he scratched his neck a little while smiling sheepishly.

"You're welcome, idiot. Glad to see you got some sense in that hollow skull of yours." Ino said with an amused smirk on her face. The completely flabbergasted look on the blond was simply hilarious. "So.. Now that I've told you everything I saw from your memories, can we drop the subject now? I'm quite through with talking about all that depressing stuff."

Naruto was slowly regaining his composure and nodded at the blonde. While learning Ino's opinion of him and the Kyuubi was a very pleasant outcome of their long conversation. He too was happy to drop it and try to not thinking about those things anymore for now.

"Hey, wait.. You said you saw almost the whole fight. Why didn't you watch it through to the end?" he asked suddenly, remembering how Ino mentioned not having seen the entire fight.

"Ehm.. Ehehe.. T-Tsunade-sama caught me while I was still inside your head. She was.. Not happy with me.." Ino said with a slightly nervous voice. The woman's initial anger was a terrifying reminder to not piss her off again anytime soon.

"Baa-chan caught you? What happened then? I bet she was angry." was Naruto's response before he broke out in laughter seeing Ino pale slightly at the memory of a furious Tsunade. He knew how scary Tsunade could be when she was angry, and it's somehow never stopped amusing him to hear about it when that anger was, for a change, not aimed at himself.

"Oh she was angry alright.. And damn is she scary when you piss her off! I had to meet her in her office within ten minutes. There she forced me to tell her everything I had seen in your head, after scolding me of course. After telling her everything, I asked her what that red chakra was that had surrounded you. While she didn't know much of the way in manifested, she did tell me about the Kyuubi sealed inside you. She heard me out on my opinion of you in relation to it, and sent me off to confess everything to you afterwards as my punishment. Or part of it anyhow."

Ino quickly slapped her hand over her mouth and inwardly cursed herself. She was so busy droning about her earlier conversation with the Hokage that she didn't keep in mind to not tell Naruto of the second part of her judgement.

"Part of your punishment? What's the other part?" asked Naruto. Completely ignoring everything else she had said. Her actions made him all the more curious and he was definitely finding out what she was talking about.

She sighed deeply to herself, certain that the idiot wasn't going to let up on her. Right now she was fiercely debating with herself which was worse. Tsunade's wrath, or being at the prankster's mercy. _'Wait a second.. Tsunade isn't here! I can just smack him one if he comes up with something I don't like!'_ Ino mused to herself, grinning inwardly.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But I swear.. If you take advantage of this part of my punishment…" Ino said while making a choking gesture with her hands, glaring daggers at the boy before continuing. "Tsunade-sama decided that since it was your privacy I've invaded, you were allowed to decide upon the remainder of my punishment.."

"What? Really?" yelled Naruto in an almost high-pitched tone. His smile so wide it threatened to eat at his face. "I could think of anything I want?" he added in a slightly more contained voice.

"I fear she did intend that, yes.. But you'd better not push it." she growled at him. She just knew he was going to come up with something terribly humiliating. Possibly having her end up receiving the wrath of the Hokage after all for not carrying out the punishment he decided on for her.

"RAMEN!" boomed Naruto's excited voice suddenly, shaking Ino out of her thoughts and look at the blond before her in confusion.

"Once I get out of here, you will have to treat me to all the Ichiraku ramen I can eat until I leave with Ero-sennin!"

Ino blinked once, twice. Of all the things he could have her do, or get from her. He choose ramen? Sure, it was going to be a hellish amount of ramen knowing his eating habit at the ramen stand. But seriously? THIS is what she was worried about? She didn't even hear him asking what was wrong as she was lost in her thoughts, then something dawned on her. _'Wait, 'leave'? What is he talking about now? And who the hell is 'Ero-sennin'? Troublesome idiot..'_ Ino winced inwardly as she used the annoying word her lazy team-mate used for just about anything.

"Okay, just what the hell are you talking about? And who on earth is Ero-sennin?"

"Didn't I tell y-" he had to cut himself off when he saw the dangerous glare coming from Ino, causing him to gulp nervously. No, he definitely hadn't told anyone quite yet. "Err.. Ero-sennin said he would take me on a three year training trip once I get out of this stupid place and back to my full strength again, which shouldn't be long!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. You mean you'll be away for three whole years only to train? And who is this Ero-sennin you keep talking about?" Ino asked. She thought he was going to rush straight back to find Sasuke, but instead he'll be leaving Konoha to train three years straight.

"Yup, and when I get back I'll be way stronger than Sasuke. Then I'm gonna find him and kick his ass all the way back to Konoha like I promised Sakura-chan, dattebayo!"

Ino simply started at him in disbelief. He was going to do nothing other than train for three years only to keep his promise to someone that treated him like utter crap? She didn't know why, but somehow his new heights of idiocy only increased her respect for him for his stupid amount of loyalty.

"So.. You'll be spending three years away from the village, training non-stop, only to bring Sasuke back? And this 'Ero-sennin' is going to train you? And will you finally tell me WHO THE HELL THAT IS ALREADY?"

Naruto duck back on his bed a little and winced while covering his ears with his hands. When he felt it safe enough to remove his hands he opened his eyes and looked at Ino's scowling face. He was about to comment on her being painfully loud, but thought better of it for his own sake and instead focused himself on her question.

"Ero-sennin? He's a really old pervert that writes really stupid books, the ones that Kakashi-sensei reads all the time. He likes to peek on naked women all the time and calls it his 'research', and he drinks even more sake than Baa-chan does. And he steals my money to buy it too!"

"Why are you going on a trip with such a pervert then? How could a lecherous old man possibly train you to become stronger?" Ino asked, still confused about why Naruto was so enthusiastic about this man, that he described as being a useless old pervert that stole his money for booze, saying he'll train him.

"He's really strong! He taught me some awesome Jutsu while we were looking for Tsunade Baa-chan to make her become Hokage! He was Baa-chan's team-mate when they were Genin, Orochimaru's too."

"W-w-what? Y-you mean one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama is going to train you for three years straight? Just so you can bring back a team-mate?" It was Ino's turn to be flabbergasted now. She knew that he joined Jiraiya in search for Tsunade, but never would have guessed that one of the Sannin would take that idiot as his student.

She blinked once when Naruto looked away and scratched his neck nervously. His face more serious than just a few moment again, his stupidly wide smile gone too.

"Well.. No, not exactly. At least.. That is not the reason Ero-sennin is going to train me." he said in a slightly nervous tone. "But it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one. I just spent well more than an hour confessing I've been reading your mind while you slept, so you're going to tell me why Jiraiya-sama is going to train you!" Ino spoke loudly as she slowly raised her hands and made choking gesture again. "And you had better tell the truth, or else.."

Naruto had the common sense to gulp at Ino's threatening gesture and dangerous look in her eyes. Nodding slowly in acknowledgement, hoping she'd calm down a little. "A-alright.. I'll tell you. Do you remember the intruders that came to Konoha shortly after the Sound's invasion?" He looked at Ino to find her giving a quick nod before he continued.

"Well, one of them was the cause why Kakashi-sensei ended up in the hospital for weeks. And all it took him were a couple of seconds, using some strange Jutsu or something. He did the same to Sasuke at a small town nearby, that's why Sasuke ended up being in a coma."

"What? S-seconds? It only took him a few seconds to injure Kakashi-sensei that badly? And why was Sasuke with you, and why did that man attack him?"

"Because that man is Uchiha Itachi.. He is the one that killed the entire clan years ago and he is Sasuke's older brother. Sasuke wanted to kill him as his revenge for slaughtering the whole clan. He and his partner, some creepy shark-like freak who is also very strong according to Ero-sennin, are part of an organisation called Akatsuki." Naruto said, his face fell a little at the mentioning of Akatsuki. They would be haunting him for as long as he or they were alive, and that would making it very difficult to bring Sasuke back.

Ino brushed away the fact about the Uchiha brothers for now, not caring enough for Sasuke to postpone learning more about this organisation Naruto mentioned. "Akatsuki? I never heard of them. What do they want? And why did they attack Konoha back then?"

"Ero-sennin didn't tell me everything he knew about them, or he didn't know a whole lot about them. But he said it was a group nine S-rank missing nins that have gathered for one goal only. They want to power of the bijuu, which includes..the Kyuubi. So basically, they're after me since that stupid fox is sealed inside of me. Ero-sennin doesn't know what they intend to do with it, but it can't be anything good that's for sure."

It was far from being the first time today that Ino sat there, shocked at what she was hearing. She had managed not to lose her tongue too much after her conversation with Tsunade about Naruto and the Kyuubi. She figured things couldn't get much more shocking to hear, but this was definitely taking the crown. Not only did he have to endure the hate of an entire village because of the Kyuubi, he now had people hunting him down for it as well? And yet he was saying it almost calmly, as if there's nothing to worry about. He was even dedicating his training to bring back Sasuke, rather than doing it to protect himself.

"Hey, Ino.. You there?" said Naruto, waving his hand in front of Ino's eyes until she slapped them away with a sneer.

"Of course I am! Unlike you, I have a brain and need to process such things for a while! Specially after a day like this one.." she sighed and rubbed her temples slowly. "Seriously. How can you be so calm about it? If what Jiraiya-sama told you is true you have nine S-rank Shinobi's coming for you. Besides.. Wouldn't you be more safe inside the walls of Konoha rather than being on the road with only the two of you?"

Naruto let out a huff of air and looked away, crossing his arms. "Hmpf! I've got a brain too, you know! And Ero-sennin said they wouldn't come for me for another three to four years, so it's safe to travel with him. Besides, there's no way he can be beaten so easily! I'm gonna train hard and beat all of those guys so they can't stop me from bring Sasuke back, dattebayo!

Just as Ino was about to respond the door to the room was swung open and Tsunade walked in. Her face was set in a frown and she eyed the blonde girl as she walked over to the bed. "Good, you're still here Ino."

"T-Tsunade-sama!" Ino quickly stood from her chair and bowed in respect for the Hokage.

"Oi, Baa-chan! What are you doing here?" said Naruto in a loud voice as he smiled widely at the older blonde. Not noticing her sour mood at all.

Ignoring the hyperactive boy for now, she looked at Ino while crossing her arms. "Did you tell him everything you've done?" she asked in a stern voice, yet Ino felt that it somehow wasn't entirely directed at her.

"Y-yes I did, Tsunade-sama!"

"Good. And you two are still on good terms with each other?" she looked between the two curiously. She had been wondering how it would have gone when Ino confessed her actions to Naruto.

"Yes.. I belie-"

"Of course we are! She may not like me, but we're still friends!" said Naruto with his ever present grin on his face.

This caused Ino to look a little surprised at him. _'He actually considers me a friend even after all the crap I gave him before?'_ she thought to herself before letting out a soft sigh. "It's not that I don't like you, Naruto.. It's just that you're so annoying and loud all the time!"

Not letting either of them drift off into some meaningless squabble Tsunade-sama cleared her throat loudly before speaking up herself. "Good. I'm glad to see someone of Naruto's peers accepting him after learning of his secret." Both of the Genin smiled first at each other then at Tsunade with a light nod. The Hokage sighed and rubbed her temples briefly before looking at the two again.

"Alright you two.. I have some bad news for you."


	5. Chapter 5: Leaving

Here it is, first actual new chapter. I'm not entirely satisfied with it. My sudden burst of ideas that finally had me continue this story again, were all for post time-skip. So I had one chapter-sized gap left to actually get to that point, was quite a struggle.

Naruto in particular might be a bit messily written, but will be better next chapter.

Don't own Naruto. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Leaving**

Ino sat staring out into nothingness, lost in her thoughts after hearing about her best friend having gone missing. She barely registered it when a hand was placed on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

Naruto on the other hand was laying sprawled over the bed, unconscious with a rather sizable bump on his head courtesy of Tsunade's fist. He had tried to rush out after Sakura the moment he heard of her disappearance, having come to the same conclusion Ino had come. She went after Sasuke all by herself. It resulted in the only way in getting him to 'calm down' was by knocking him out, not something Tsunade was all that unfamiliar with.

_'She went after Sasuke, I just know it!'_ Ino thought in her head, tears forming in her eyes at the thought. Had Sakura really not seen the overly obvious facts, too blinded by her infatuation or did she simply choose his side instead of her friends and family? A sigh finally broke Ino out of her throughts as she looks up to Tsunade, who looked both tired and frustrated. Though she wasn't sure if it was due to the entire day, or just because of Naruto being impossible as always.

"Ino.." the Hokage began calmly, looking down at the girl with a softening expression in her eyes. "I know this has been a most tiring day for you, but do you have any idea where Sakura might be?"

Her lower lip quivered for a moment as she meekly nodded, needing a few moments to gather the words. "Y-yes.. I think, T-Tsunade-sama. When I told you about how Sakura was acting so strange, she had a backpack.. She was being very secretive and defensive about everything. More so than normally, I mean. S-She went after him, I'm sure of it!" she finished with a crack to her voice as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I feared the girl might have gotten that in her head, but that pretty much confirms it." Tsunade uttered with another deep sigh. "I already sent Kakashi out with a tracking squad to try and find her, he had already gotten to the same conclusion as you and I."

She then glanced over to Naruto and groaned at the thought of him trying to rush off after her the moment her woke up again. She'd have to put up a watch-schedule for him after all, it seems.

"Tsunade-sama? What will you do when Kakashi-sensei finds Sakura and brings her back?" Ino muttered quietly, still feeling broken over her best friend's actions.

"That depends. Assuming she did indeed go after Sasuke, which seems to be the most likely scenario, she'll be put on probation for however long I deem fit." the Hokage replied calmly before her expression darkened slightly. "If, however, the girl has somehow gotten it into her head that instead of trying to bring the Uchiha back all by herself and rather opted to find and if possible join him.. I'll have her stripped of her status as a Konoha kunoichi with further punishment pending."

Ino winced at the more harsh tone Tsunade used at the end, biting nervously on her lower lip. Would Sakura really go so far as to run away from Konoha to be with Sasuke? _'She would..Anything to be with Uchiha Sasuke, right.. Sakura?'_

"I'll have all the rookie Genin summoned to my office in the morning to inform everyone of what happened. I expect you to be there too, Ino. And don't mention this to anyone till then. I don't want anyone else getting any ideas about going after her."

Sighing at the lack of response from the young blonde she gently placed her hand on her head and smiled warmly at her. "You should go home and get some sleep, been one heck of a day for you I wager. I'm sure Kakashi will have picked up Sakura's trail soon enough and hopefully this will just be a misunderstanding." she says softly as she ruffled the girl's hair once, not failing to notice the brief glint of annoyance in Ino's eyes as she messed up a few hairs on her head.

Nodding meekly at the older blonde, wiping away the tears from her cheeks and eyes as a slight smile curved her lips eventually. "T-thank you, Hokage-sama."

"I'll send someone over to keep Naruto in check for the night, you go get your rest. All of this only resulted in more...paperwork..ugh." she muttered out the last bit before thinking of something, a mischievous smirk on her lips as she moved to the door. "In fact, I'll ask Shizune to watch Naruto. I'm sure she won't mind being here for him." _'And with her here, I can enjoy myself some well-deserved sake rather than building up a headache with paperwork'_ she thought with a smug grin at her genious plan.

* * *

**Three days later**

Naruto and Ino sat quietly at the booth of Ichiraku's, waiting for their order of ramen. Naruto had demanded they go the moment he finally got discharged from that damned hospital. He was forced to give up on his attempts to try and go after Sakura when Jiraiya had started keeping an eye on him constantly, on request of Tsunade most likely.

Ino had at first welcomed the distraction, having spend the last few days thinking of Sakura. Worrying for her best friend too much to show up for training with Asuma and her team-mates. Everyone had been shocked by the news that Sakura had disappeared, assumingly in chase of Sasuke. She had not missed the frown on the faces of both her team-mates and Shino, nor the low growl coming from Kiba. They had all been informed of Naruto's injuries aswell as the conclusion of the retrieval mission beforehand, which she was sure had a negative effect on their opinion about Sakura's actions. She couldn't disagree however, as she herself felt a deep disappointment for her pinkette friend too.

A hand waving infront of her eyes snapped her out of her throughts, jumping up from her bar stool slightly to look up at the owner of the stand who had just placed her bowl of ramen down infront of her. "Oh, s-sorry about that Teuchi-san! Thank you." she said quickly with a polite bow of her head.

Naruto chuckled at Ino before digging in himself, gorging down his ramen without anything even remotely related to table-manners if the slurping was any indication. He had cheered up a fair bit with the knowledge of Kakashi looking for Sakura and had simply said she was trying to get Sasuke back just like he had at first.

"What are you laughing at, you idiot! And for Kami's sake can you not eat in such a disgusting manner?!" Ino yelled from his side as he lifted the bowl in his hands to slurp up the remains before setting it down on the counter with a big grin. "Seconds please!" he said to Teuchi before turning to Ino. "Sorry Ino, did you say something" he droned in a Kakashi-like manner.

Ino gritted her teeth in frustration at being ignored, aswell as Naruto ordering a second bowl with HER money. She huffed and looked away from him, turning to her own bowl of vegetable ramen and continued to eat it with far more grace and manner than Naruto had. Trying her best to tune out his slurping sounds as he started devouring his second bowl.

Just then a third person entered the ramen stand, sitting down next to Naruto with a giant grin threatening to split his face in two. "What's this gaki, straight from the hospital to a date are we? I'm so proud of you!" the figure said with a perverted glint in his eyes. At the very mention of it being a date however, Naruto's eyes bulged and broth from his ramen spurted out his mouth in surprise.

"A DATE?! No way I'm here on a date with -Ino-, Ero-Sennin!" he yelled before he felt a hand painfully grabbing his hair and pulling him back a little. Daring a glance over his shoulder a shudder ran down his spine at the deathglare he received. "Was that meant as an insult to me, Uzumaki? Cause I'm this close to wringing your neck sitting here listening to your disgusting eating habits while I'm the one that has to pay!" Ino almost snarled at him as her thumb and index finger were barely apart from one another to show him what she meant.

They were interupted by what could only be described as a perverted giggle. "Ooh she's a feisty one there, Gaki. Violent too. Didn't know you were a masochist." Jiraiya said with a shameless leer to Ino. His joking and humour failed him however when he was subjected to an icy, pain-promising glare from Ino. Shivering in his seat at that way too familiar kind of glare he often got from his former team-mate.

"Jiraiya-sama, I would really appreciate it if you did not ever mention Naruto and me to be on a date again.." Ino said in a sweet, calm voice that made both Naruto and Jiraiya gulp. Ino's eyes darkened then as she finished in a much more menacing yet still low voice. "Because the very thought of it makes me want to hurt someone.."

Naruto contemplated for only a brief moment to defend himself against the insult but was stopped by Jiraiya. "I'm sorry Ino-chan, wasn't aware you were still at the stage of denial!" he joked, jumping out from his seat as he heard chopsticks snapping in half. Snickering to himself he left the stand with a wave over his shoulder. "By the way Naruto, Tsunade-Hime wanted to speak to you. And get packing, we leave tomorrow." he said in a more serious tone before jumping out of sight.

Ino calmed down as she sat frozen for a moment at that announcement. Naruto on the other hand had cheered at the prospect on leaving on his training trip to become, as he had started calling it, 'really super strong'. Yelling at the owner of the ramen stand for one more bowl before going to report to Tsunade. She sighed in frustration at his careless way of acting.

"Baka! You shouldn't keep Hokage-sama waiting just cause you want another bowl of ramen!" she scolded at him, but knew it'd be pointless in the end.

Naruto, however, stopped himself from digging in to the third bowl that Teuchi already had prepared from him in advance. "Ne Ino.. You think Sakura-chan managed to find Sasuke?"

Ino blinked in surprise for a moment. She knew the tracking team hadn't managed to find Sakura yet still, but they hadn't given up on the girl yet. They were still away looking after all.

"Uhm.. Didn't you say Jiraiya-sama could never manage to find Orochimaru? I doubt Sakura can if even he can't, no matter how smart she is." she asked, her worry for her friend returning again instantly. "I've just had this feeling they wouldn't find her all this time.. So I kinda hoped she'd somehow found..him.. rather than being all alone." came Naruto's sullen response. His bowl of ramen still remaining untouched. "Besides" he said, interupting her from responding to him. "It would make finding her much more easier. Just find Sasuke, drag him back and she'll come back aswell!"

Ino stared at him in both confusion as amazement. How he kept going from depressed to so positive and cheerfull was simply beyond her. No wonder his sensei called him the number one surprising ninja of Konoha. "You really think she's with Sasuke right now? Even then, how is that any better after what he did?" she questioned him.

Naruto simply shrugged in response, getting up from his bar stool leaving his ramen unattended. "Just that same feeling, I guess.. I think it'd be easier if they were in the same place, cause they'd be when I get back from training with Ero-Sennin then aswell. Look for the teme, find Sakura-chan aswell. I'm sure I can convince her to come back, promise." he said with a weird smile, one she had not seen on him before. It seemed more..genuine somehow. She turned around in her seat to face away from him, hiding the subtle blush coloring her cheeks. "..Idiot." she muttered.

Ignoring the jab with a widening smile he turned around and walked off. "Better go see what Baa-chan wants. See ya, Ino. Bye, old man!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"He.. left? Is he alright?! He didn't finish his ramen! It was only his third bowl too!" Teuchi said in a panicked voice, acting like the world was soon coming to an end. Ino looked at the untouched bowl of ramen and pondered it for a moment. _'Did he..just act like that to cheer me up..?'_ she mused to herself, unable to stop a slight smile from curving her lips. _'He really is an idiot..'_

* * *

"Oi Baa-chan, what'd you want with me!" he shouted out as he practically kicked the door to Tsunade's office open only to be met with something solid colliding with his head. "Damnit brat, how many times do I have to tell you to learn some damn manners! And stop calling me that already!"

"Baa-chan! That hurt!" he whined and pouted as he stared at Tsunade's stamp that now lay on the floor. Looking up to the slug sannin he noticed Kakashi standing to the side of her desk aswell, causing his mood to drop almost instantly as he figured the tracking team must have failed. The apologetic look in his lone eye confirming his initial thought.

Tsunade let out a deep sigh while rubbing her temples. _'Soon.. Soon I'll have some peace and quiet from that headache inducing brat..'_ she tought to herself. She looked to Kakashi with a slight nod, gesturing him to give the report to Naruto himself.

Kakashi gave a nod back and turned to the blond with a rather sullen expression of his own. Within a week he had seemingly lost two thirds of his Genin team, with the last one about to leave the next morning. "Naruto, as you may have figured yourself with my being here.. We have not been able to track Sakura down. Whether she has had help we do not know, but her trail was mostly wiped clean behind her."

Naruto nodded meekly. He had this feeling the entire time, that they wouldn't find Sakura. But to actually hear Kakashi saying they failed to find and bring her back still hurt him. _'Hope you're alright, Sakura-chan. And you better not hurt her teme..' _he though before meeting Kakashi's gaze.

"Narut-" "I'm fine" Naruto interupted Kakashi with a forced smile plastered on his face. "I'm sure she's alright, where ever she is. I'll find her and get her to come back, just like Sasuke, when I get back from training with Ero-Sennin! Promise!" he said in his usual cheerfull and energetic tone.

Kakashi chuckled lightly at his student. He never seized to surprise him. "I suppose I'd best keep myself in shape in the meanwhile then, huh? Wouldn't do for Team Seven to be reunited with a slacked-off sensei." he said said jokingly, receiving a deadpan look from both Naruto and Tsunade alike. "..You always slack off and show up late, Kakashi-sensei.." Naruto muttered.

Seeing his opening Kakashi glanced to Naruto with a dull look in his eye. "Hmm, did you say something?" he said and was interally laughing as he used his right hand to keep the hyperactive blond from reaching him in his enraged assault.

A cough interupted the pair, or Kakashi atleast as Naruto was still flailing his arms angrily at the Jonin. A sigh passed the blonde's lips as she stood up from her chair and walked around the desk to approach Naruto. With a quick flick of her finger a Naruto-shaped crater suddenly formed in the far wall of her office. Staring at her with pain and fear clear in his eyes, causing her to smirk victoriously. "Now that I have your undivided attention, I wanted to ask you if you were ready to leave tomorrow with Jiraiya. Like, oh I don't know, telling all your friends for example?"

He jumped out from the indent his body made in the wall and shouted out at Tsunade. "Yup! Totally ready to leave and become really super strong! And Ino knows when I leave, so I'm sure all of Konoha knows by now!" he grinned to himself at the jab he made at the blonde he had, admittedly, bonded a fair bit with since her confession. His grin widened into a mischievous one as he pointed at Tsunade. "Just you wait! When I get back I'll be so strong you might aswell hand me the hat as a welcome back present you old ha-...!" before he could even finish his last word a fist collided with her face, sending him through the wall he occupied earlier only to crash into the sturdier one behind it. Only to then burst into a puff of smoke, indicating it was only a Kage Bunshin.

Tsunade's eyebrow and lips switched dangerously before she snapped. "NAAAAARUTOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Naruto sat atop the Hokage Monument, laughing uncontrollably in his success of one up-ing the old hag like that. After controlling his laughter finally he laid down on the stone and looked up to the sky with a deep sigh. He finally had some time for himself to think, without interuptions or distractions which seemed to be a constant back in the hospital.

The first thing that popped into his thoughts was Sasuke. He had stopped trying to lie to himself and by saying it wasn't true. But it was quite clear that his best friend was trying very hard to kill him. It hurt to think about it still, but he was quietly beginning to doubt his desires to bring the Uchiha back. He knew Jiraiya had no intention on helping him go after Sasuke, so he'd have to wait for atleast three years to start actively looking for him. _'Three years for him to spend with that teme, Orochimaru..'_

He had the displeasure of meeting Orochimaru directly twice now, aswel as having heard quite a bit from Jiraiya about him. He was absolutely certain spending three years with that sickening man would likely turn Sasuke even more cold hearted to his friends, and Konoha as a whole. Maybe it would be best to decide it when he finally met Sasuke again, face to face. He would definately look from him, but he honestly was unsure about wanting to bring him back after the past few days.

As he somewhat made up his mind about Sasuke his thoughts drifted to Sakura instead. A sad smile forming on his lips. Ever since he had, somewhat, calmed down after several attempts to go after her and started listening to people he had been thinking about it. He knew they wouldn't find anything. How, he wasn't sure. But he just knew she was gone, most likely reunited with her Sasuke-kun by now. She'd be happy if that were the case, he imagined. And as much as it hurt him, he hoped that she was. Even if it meant having left the village, leaving him although he doubted she felt it like that.

He blinked his eyes a few times at that thought, lips parting in a quiet gasp as he lay there for several moments. Even in his head he always called her 'Sakura-chan' whenever he thought of her. Not only did he not, he caught himself thinking of her in a way he never had before. He was disappointed in her, and even angry for just leaving to go after her crush. _'I guess she never did get to the point of actually liking me as a friend even..' _he thought in painfull realization.

Trying to change his train of thoughts he eventually let his mind wander to one of the most surpising things that happened this week, something that baffled him even now. It was his fellow blonde, Ino. He had not forgotten her less than kind words for Sasuke lately. After finding out about their fight at the Valley of the End, and having seen the state of her friends, she seemed to loathe her by now former crush. And if that wasn't enough, the loud and annoying blonde had found out about his biggest and darkest secret. She learned of the Kyuubi being sealed inside of him, but instead of fearing or hating him like the majority of the village had ever since he could remember.. She accepted him for him, albeit in a not too flattering manner. After all, she had called him 'too stupid to possibly be a demon'.

The blond had worried for a moment that she might not keep her mouth shut about it, being the queen of Konoha gossip that she is. But she even promised on her own accord, to never tell a soul about it. He almost hated to admit it, but in the past days he had grown to like Ino a fair bit because of it. Although she was still as loud and annoying as ever, it somehow felt much more pleasant to spend time with the short-fused blonde with a habit of insulting him. He was actually really enjoying their verbal squabbles, and he was sure he saw a glint of the same in Ino's eyes sometimes.

He replayed the last three days in his head. His friends had seemed to agree to visit him often after hearing of Sakura's disappearance, since it was almost as if they tagged one another in and out in a constant stream of visitors. He was glad that Lee's team, allong with Gai, had shown up before they left on a mission too. He hadn't had a chance to properly thank Lee for his help yet after all, who seemed to have decided Naruto was now his eternal rival due to getting trained by one of the legendary Sannin. He had sweatdropped at that, and noticed that Neji had aswell while Ten-Ten simply facepalmed at the very idea of it. And then.. They were are forced to lay eyes upon the most horrific genjutsu in existance. Lee and Gai hugged and cried out in joy of Lee having found his rival at some beach at sunset. A shudder went through his entire form at the mere memory of that. Really needed to find some way of dispelling that genjutsu.

Everyone seemed to really condemn Sasuke's actions. Even the normally shy and quiet Hinata had agreed to Shino's verbal disapproval of the Uchiha. Surprisingly Shikamaru had quite a strong opinion on the matter too. On both Sasuke's as Sakura's. Seemed that Ino's promise only really counted for his tenant, as it was clear she explained what happened to her team-mates. The Nara had outright said he had no respect for Sasuke at all and practically called him a traitor to Konoha. While he had winced at that at first, he silently found himself agreeing to the lazy Chunin. He was a bit more reserved about Sakura, but even then he made it quite clear he couldn't bring himself to worry over someone that abandoned a loyal, caring friend that practically did anything for her.

He pondered over his last three days in Konoha some more while slowly drifting off into sleep, muttering in his sleep about getting super strong and becoming Hokage soon.

* * *

The next morning found Naruto slowly strolling down the streets of Konoha towards the main gate. It was much, much too early for his liking which was easily seen by the tired half-asleep look on his face. He did praise himself for actually having gotten out of bed all by himself, smirking a little at the thought. Upon approaching the main gate he noticed there to be a fair few people more than he had expected. Jiraiya and Tsunade being there was a given, same for Kakashi. But it seemed that all his classmates aswell as Team Gai were present. He looked down to the ground while blushing slightly at the thought they were all there to send him off on his training trip with the old pervert.

Tsunade stood at the end of the line of Naruto's peers, her arms crossed as she looked up to see Naruto approaching. She smiles softly as she spotted the light blush on the boy's cheeks. She could practically feel the smirk on Jiraiya's lips aswell. A quick glance to her left showed Shizune smiling at the blond boy aswell. She watched as one team at a time walked up to Naruto to say their goodbye. A handshake here, a fistbump there in Kiba's case. It was good to see he had gotten good friends after being alone for so long and they were all here to remind him of that it seemed. Even the shy Hinata seemed to manage to utter more than a few words without too much stuttering, while the usual blush was still painting her pale cheeks red.

After all the goodbyes from his friends and their sensei he stood infront of Shizune with a big grin. "Make sure to keep Baa-chan off the sake, Shizune nee-chan!" he said happily. The woman giggled and leaned down to wrap him in a firm hug. "I will, Naruto-kun. You just be carefull, and don't push yourself too hard in your training with Jiraiya-sama." she replied softly. His only response to that was a quick nod, but his widened grin told her he'd definately be pushing himself too far more than once.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned to his sensei, who for once was not reading his precious orange book and eye-smiled at him. "You've grown a lot since the first day you became a Genin. I'm sure you'll become much stronger these coming years, ne?"

"Ofcourse! Better stop being lazy, Kakashi-sensei! Or else I might become stronger then you!" Naruto shouted out while pointing a finger almost tauntingly at his sensei who simply nodded once with a sly smirk under his mask. Tsunade had made sure he wouldn't be slacking off. With his whole team gone and Anbu still recovering from the invasion, she had told him to pick up the slack within the ranks for the next three years. He had not missed the almost sadistic grin on the Hokage's lips at the mention of putting him hard to work.

He walked up to Tsunade and smiled up at her, but suddenly remembered his prank from the day before and began to sweat lightly infront of her. "N-ne.. Baa-chan.." he started but was interupted as he saw her index finger move to his forehead. He flinched and braced himself for the impact which never came. Eyes popped open when a familiar feeling touched his forehead instead, looking up to see Tsunade gently kissing his brow before smiling down at him. He blushed lightly as he had done last time. "Much as a nuisance you are, brat. I'll be missing you." she said before a shadow clouded her eyes that carried a promise of unworldly pain. "And don't you be taking over any of that pervert's filthy habits, you hear me?"

The genin's eyes widened and he visibly paled at the not so subtle threat of the older blonde, quietly nodding his head once while shivering in his boots. He noticed Tsunade's glare moving to Jiraiya after his nod and saw the white haired pervert paling slightly with a few quick nods aswell. He was sure he heard several people behind him snickering at his predicament.

"Well Naruto, time to get going. We've got a lot to do, and a fair bit to travel for today." he said and turned to the road. Looking over his shoulder once to Tsunade with a lecherous grin. "See you in three years, Hime. I can barely wait already." Tsunade however managed to keep her cool and just shoo'd him off with her right hand, a subtle grin playing at her lips.

"Naruto, hold up!" he heard behind him just as he set off after Jiraiya. Turning back he saw Ino walking up to him. He cocked his head curiously at her, wondering what she'd want. "What, Ino? You already said goodbye just now. Missing me alr-Ow!" he groaned as he was interupted by a smack on his head courtesy of Ino's fist. "Shut up, idiot. I was trying to say something! I.." she paused briefly to take a deep breath and collect her words for herself. "I just wanted to say.. That promise you made yesterday, about bringing Sakura back.. I won't let you do that alone. When you get back, I'm gonna help bring that idiot Forehead back!" she said loudly causing Naruto to gawk at her for a moment. Did that mean that Ino, INO, was going to..train? He wasn't sure what to think of it, but figured she'd want to get her best friend back really bad. He gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up with the good guy's pose he'd seen from Lee and Gai. Who, he noticed, were now bawling their eyes out in sheer happines of his using that pose. "Sure Ino! We'll drag those idiots back, kicking and screaming if need be!" he said before turning back to walk up to Jiraiya. They nodded at eachother, turned to their friends with one last wave before setting out on their three year long trip.

He had decided to keep his doubts to bringing back Sasuke pending till he met him face to face the day before, but he saw the determined look in Ino's eyes to get her best friend back. Knowing Sakura wasn't coming back without the bastard, it seemed he'd have to go after him. After all, he did promise Ino. And after accepting him for who he is, rather than the stupid fox he felt he owed her that. Nodding to himself with a smile. _'Sasuke, Sakura.. You two better watch out. I'll drag your sorry asses back to Konoha, like it or not dattebayo!'_

Ino stood there gawking on the spot as she watched Naruto turn and leave. She had expected him to mock her determination, not to accept it and cheer her on. She didn't miss the fact he called Sakura an idiot aswell either. She smiled a little at that. _'Maybe he's not quite as brainless as I thought.'_ she thought, snickering to herself. _'Still a loudmouthed idiot though, no changing that.'_


	6. Chapter 6: Three years later

Here it is, chapter 6! Took me a lot less time to get this one done than I had thought. Then again, didn't intend to slack off schoolwork as much as I did.

Biggest chapter so far by a large margin too. Definately showing some bigger changes from Canon coming now, hopefully to your likings. As for chapter 7.. That one will not be finished as quick as this one due to the coming workshifts leaving me with little spare time.

By all means, let me know what you think. I'm really curious as to the responses of my choices so far!

Still don't own Naruto. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Three years later**

Two figures slowly strolled down the road leading up to the main gate of Konoha. One of them was a tall, older looking man with long, spiky white hair running down his back with shoulder-long bangs framing his face. Thin red lines of face paint running from below his eyes down his face. The entirety of his forehead covered by his Hitai-ate which had the Kanji for "Oil" engraved unto it.  
Wearing a green short shirt kimono with matching pants, mesh armour worn under his clothing showing out from the top of his chest as well as sleeves and legs of his outfit. Walking on a pair of geta sandals. Over his kimono he wore a red haori with one yellow circle on on each side. A large scroll slung over his back.

Walking at his side was a young man with sun-kissed spiky blond hair that ran down his neck a little, short bangs hanging at the height of his ears. He stood easily a full head shorter than his companion. A black headband with the Konoha's Leaf Hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead, the long cloth straps waving in the wind behind him. His outfit consisted of a fairly loose-fitting coarse black shirt with the end of the long sleeves strapping around his wrists more snugly. Orange trims running over the seams of the shirt, as well as a more pronounced orange stroke along the sleeves. His pants, also a coarse black, tucked into his shin-high same coloured sandals. Same as with the shirt, orange trims marked the seams of the pants with a wider stroke of orange running down the sides of his legs. A black kunai pouch strapped to his right thigh and an orange sash tied around his waist.

The blond's cerulean blue eyes gazing up up from the road to glance around the village as the two walked through the gate as a leisurely pace. Two Chunin sitting in the guard booth looking up with slightly widened eyes as the pair entered into the village. "Ohh, Izumo.. Is that..?" said Kotetsu, letting the question linger in the air as he let his eyes follow the pair. "Huh, well look who it is.." replied Izumo with a grin on his face, soon matched by his fellow Chunin.

After walking halfway down the middle of a wide square the two stopped, the blond still looking around with a big smile on face. The tall man crossed his arms with a grin as he watched the blond. "Happy to be back, I see? It has only been three years you know.." he said earning him a snort as the blond looked up at him with a taunting grin. "Ero-sennin, should you really be saying that? We both know how you whined in your sleep about missing Baa-chan after another drinking bout. Though let's not repeat your exact..words.." he finished with his grin widening.

Jiraiya briefly paled at the thought of his words being repeated to the irritable older blonde. He had strangled Naruto out of his laughing fit to have him explain what was so funny. Seemed that in his sleep he had given the boy ammunition against him to Tsunade, having muttered not so pure words about missing the blonde's chest. "N-now now, Naruto.. You wouldn't do that to your beloved master now would you?" he said in a sweetly pleading voice, his hands rubbing together innocently.

Nodding at his sensei with his grin still threatening to split his face in two. "I would! But I won't. Only a matter of time before she punches you out her office anyhow, with or without my- Ow, OI!" he groaned and snapped at Jiraiya who had casually bonked his fist on top of the blond's head to shut him up. But before he could retort to the Sannin the man was already up in his face. "Now who's the pot calling the kettle, gaki. Care to place a bet on that one? No instigating anything against each other on the matter."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya for a moment. "How much?" he warily asked. If there was one thing he learned about the Sannin over the past three years, was to be very careful about accepting any bets with the old pervert. He had stopped taking or stealing his money from him for his less than proper endeavours, instead had challenged him to a bet frequently with the stakes a fairly high sum of money more often than not. He had managed to win a bet here and there, but in the end it came down to his losses to the pervert to have been almost as bad as when he was simply taking it all. The pervert had a winning streak that was quite the opposite of Tsunade's.

"Twenty thousand, kiddo. What do you say, huh?"

Pondering on it for a few moments, striking a thinking pose while his brow furrowed slightly. They had done a number of missions during their three year long trip. Specially that past year there had been some more profitable and challenging missions amongst them. Twenty thousand wasn't an amount he'd like to lose, but it would be no disaster. That made him pause. He was certain Jiraiya was well aware of Gama-chan's state and it was unlike him to not try and cheat more out of him. He grinned at his sensei with a challenging glint in his eyes. "Forty."

He blinked once at that, not expecting such a bold counter from the his student. He smirked down at him and nodded his head. "Feeling confident, gaki? Fine, forty thousand on you pissing Tsunade-Hime off." he said, extending his hand to Naruto who grabbed it with a quick shake. "Time to shake some of MY money out of you, Ero-sennin!"

"Hey, guys.. Is that..?" came from somewhere behind them as they were goading each other.

With a sigh he turned away from the boy, his right hand folding over his forehead. "You're hopeless.. How many times have I said that money lost is no longer your money. I almost believed you had grown a brain, but alas.. Wishful thinking.." he ends in a sullen tone.

Shaking his fist at the old man with a menacing glare, however any response he may have wanted to give was cut short when he heard himself being called from behind him.

"OII! Naruto Nii-chan!"

He turned to the source of the voice and his eyes widened, a large smile spreading on his face. "Ooh, Konohamaru! You've grown a lot!" he shouted back. And he was right, the little squirt had really shot up in height. He stood easily more than a full head higher than Naruto had at his age. Just like he had when he became a Genin, it looked like Konohamaru had switched the goggles out for his Hitai-ate as well. Same was true for his two friends who were right behind his adopted younger brother, who seemed to have grown larger than him at that age just as well. He would never admit he was short, though. Never.

"It's been a while! Welcome back, Naruto Nii-chan!" Konohamaru said happily. Both his friends Udon and Moegi repeated his words with a bow of their head. They were both smiling brightly, just like their best friend was.

"Three years with this old pervert.. You have no id- ow, ERO-SENNIN!" he groaned as he turned on his sensei with a glare at having been bonked over the head again. "Stop doing that!"

"Stop calling me that."

"But you are a self-admitted pervert! Bah.." he grunts and turns his back to the Toad Sage, crossing his arms. Sighing deeply once he looked back at Konohamaru and his friends. "Wow, you two have really grown as well.. I suddenly feel kinda old."

Jiraiya snorted once, grinning at the blond idiot. "Shame you don't act your age though.. Ahwell, I'll go on ahead and tell Hime we're back. Don't be too long, gaki." he said before turning around and walking down the streets towards the Hokage tower. In all honestly he just wanted to set the stage to win his little bet with the brat. Then be off again for some.. Research. He giggled pervertedly, drawing a fair number of eyes in his stride.

He had just stood there watching as Naruto and Jiraiya were verbally squabbling with each other. Moegi and Udon seemed to be awestruck at how the two acted around each other as well. He quickly shrugged it off as his brother figure turned to them again. "I bet you've gotten stronger, huh? Learned all sorts of awesome new Jutsu, right?! Show us!" he shouted excitedly.

His eyebrows raises slightly at the demand of his younger friend. His arms still crossed while puffing out his chest proudly with a big grin. "Hah, a real Shinobi doesn't flaunt his skills and Jutsu's. Specially not to a rival, riiiiight?" he chuckled as he winked at Konohamaru.

If he was surprised earlier, he was downright gawking now. Did.. Did Naruto actually grow up from his childish manners? It took him nearly a full minute to shake off his shock before he glared at Naruto and pointed accusingly at him. "Who are you and what have you done with Naruto Nii-chan?! Oh, I know!" he shouted before putting his hands in ram sign.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" was called out at the same time a burst of smoke surrounded him. When the smoke cleared an absolute beauty of a brunette stood in Konohamaru's place, completely nude with 'her' modesty protected only by puffs of smoke lingering to cover 'her' chest and below 'her' waist. Despite the cover, clear suggestive hints could still be seen of 'her' assets and curves.

In his defense.. He was a healthy young man in the prime of his youth, and forced to travel with a self-proclaimed super pervert. And Konohamaru had really improved his depiction of the female beauty. He coughed once, bringing a fist to cover his mouth and hide the slight blush that touched his cheek at the alluring view. Both he and Konohamaru were ignoring Moegi's complaints about the boy's usage of that Jutsu. "Heh.. You've really improved indeed, Konohamaru.." he said calmly after getting his brief spike in hormones under control again.

The beautiful brunette went up in smoke to reveal Konohamaru standing there gazing at Naruto, completely dumbstruck at his brother figure's apparent maturity. He just couldn't believe his idol and rival hadn't budged even a little from all of that. "I.. I guess you've really grown u-"

"Still a long way too go though! You need more 'Oomph!', lemme show ya!" Naruto suddenly shouted, interrupting Konohamaru as he put his hands in the ram sign now. But before he could call out his Jutsu or even channel his Chakra for it he heard Moegi's threat.

"I'll tell Tsunade-Sama on the two of you if you don't stop right now!" she shouted with her hands at her hips, glaring at Konohamaru in a way that showed it was hardly the first time.

He froze with his hands still in the ram sign, paling slightly at the thought of how that would end. Painfully. And expensive, if the old pervert hadn't messed up yet. Looking to Konohamaru he noticed he was trembling on his spot, making him wonder if the boy had been subjected to the Hokage's rage before. Recovering from his moment of fear he scratched the back of his head with his right hand, his left rising to make a peace-making gesture at Moegi. "Now now.. No need to tell Baa-chan, really. We just got carried away a bit, right Konohamaru?" he said, slightly unnerved by the hanging threat of a welcoming punch to the face from Tsunade.

The boy nodded frantically at Naruto, then at Moegi before practically starting to plead with her. "Please don't tell Tsunade Baa-chan! I was so happy to have lived the month without pissing her off too much!"

Moegi just huffed and crossed her arms, turning away from her friend. "Ebisu-sensei is waiting for us too, you know. We should really get going Konohamaru-kun." said Udon when he realized Moegi had no intention of talking to their team's leader.

"Oh, right.. Forgot about that! Hah..hahah.." Konohamaru sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head in a very Naruto like manner.

Naruto had cocked his head at this with a snicker. "That closet pervert is your Jonin sensei now? Hah, should've expected that I suppose. Say 'hi' for me." he says with a big smirk. He was well aware the Jonin was not fond of him at all. Although he was pretty certain it wasn't just for his tenant anymore, but more his pranks on the closet pervert.

Turning to Naruto again he nodded and grinned. "I will! Well.. Off to our.." he began then sighed and slumped a little. "..D rank.. See ya, Naruto Nii-chan." he muttered out as he turned around and walked off. His friends bowing to Naruto once and saying their goodbye's before following Konohamaru.

"I know the pain.." Naruto chuckled to himself, watching the three Genin leave for their D rank mission. He stood there smiling for several moments longer before he finally turned to continue his stroll towards the Hokage tower himself. Making sure to take a rather scenic route to see as much from his home after three long years away as he possibly could. Sure looked like nothing had changed, until he looked up and past the tower. _'Ooohh! They finished with carving Baa-chan's face __into the Hokage Monument. Sure looks like the old hag..'_ he thought to himself, snickering quietly.

* * *

He was pacing himself down the corridors of the Hokage's tower, heading for Tsunade's office. Arms crossed at his chest while his right hand was holding his chin in a thinking pose. _'Hmm.. How should I make my grand entrance to announce my return to Baa-chan..?'_

Pondering on it still, he almost didn't realized he was already standing in front of the Hokage's office. He sighed and decided to just kick the door him and shout his arrival to the old blonde, until something popped to his mind. His bet with Jiraiya was still on as for all he knew the old pervert hadn't pissed Tsunade off. At least the lack of a human-shaped indent in the walls was hinting to that. He leaned down against the wall next to the door in thought again. _'Maybe I better just.. Enter and play nice.. Ero-sennin's bound to piss Baa-chan off in no time anyhow.' _Nodding in agreement to himself he pushed off the wall and went to enter into the office in a much more sophisticated manner than he had tended to do three years ago.

"..an idiot." he heard a voice say as he stepped through the doorway with a big grin on his face, waving a hand at the blonde behind the desk and the brunette standing beside the Hokage. "Hey Baa-chan, Shizune nee-chan! I'm back!" he said happily.

Tsunade and Shizune both turned to the entering blond while the former still chuckled at Jiraiya's words, smiling at Naruto though her eyebrows arched up slowly. "Welcome back, brat. Glad to see you grew some manners."

Shizune was smiling softly as she saw the blond enter the office. Lifting her right hand to cover her mouth in a quiet giggle at the jab of her teacher.

"Don't be fooled too easily, Hime.. Like I said. He's still an idiot." said Jiraiya with a taunting grin to Naruto, sitting down on the window sill, one leg drooping down with his foot touching the floor. His other leg folded and resting on the sill.

Wringing his pinky finger through his ear for a moment before removing it again with a quiet plop, dull narrowed eyes turning towards the white haired man. "Huh..say something?"  
The words had barely left his lips when he felt two hands wrap around his throat starting to strangle him, though without any actual force. "Damn it you brat, I told you to stop doing that!" yelled Jiraiya while shaking Naruto furiously in his hands. "You should show some respect for your beloved master!"

"Le-..f me..ro..nnin!" was the broken, gagging response from the blond. His hands gripping Jiraiya's wrists, trying to free himself. A cough eventually drew both their attentions, letting each other go as they turned to Tsunade who's left brow was twitching dangerously. "You two done?" she asked with what sounded like a snarl in her voice.

Master and student paled considerably and shot up to stand at attention shouting out simultaneously. "Yes Tsunade-Baa-chan / Hime! I apologize!"

Tsunade blinked once at the two, not sure what to think before she just slapped her palm against her face with a deep sigh. _'Great.. Their idiocy has grown to match that of each other's..'_ she thought as she briefly pinched the bridge of her nose. Back in her office for barely a few minutes and the brat was already giving her a headache. Again. Shizune seemed to enjoy the unchanged pace between them apparently, if her giggling at the situation was any clue. Groaning to herself once she looked back up at her former team-mate and his student. "Can you two -try- to be serious for ONCE? Difficult though that may be for you idiots.."

They both cocked their head a little, then looked at each other. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. Clearly he had no idea what she was referring to. Jiraiya raised his arms up in a theatrical shrug as well before glancing over to an increasingly more irritated Tsunade. "Serious about what exactly, Hime?"

She grit her teeth in frustration, taking a few slow deep breaths to try and calm herself down. "Seriously Jiraiya? I was talking about Naruto's growth these past three years. We were even discussing it when the brat came in!"

Jiraiya's lips formed an 'O' in understanding, grinning as he started patting Naruto on the head with some force. "Hah, well as you can see.. Despite having grown, still a squirt." he said before laughing mockingly at Naruto.

Naruto instantly turned on the Sannin with a glare, pointing accusingly at him. "Hey shut up! I'm not a squirt anymore!" he yelled before flinching at the sound of a crash. Carefully turning his gaze over towards the Hokage he saw her fist having impacted on her desk, forming a crater around it as she glared at the two. "CUT IT OUT YOU TWO!"

Shizune sighed and sweatdropped as Jiraiya and Naruto seemed to just -try- and annoy Tsunade with their antics. She winced inwardly as Tsunade snapped at the two and started yelling. "Tsunade-sama.. Please calm down.." she said in her usual soft voice, her hands making a calming gesture to the blond Hokage.

Chuckling, Jiraiya crossed his arms and smiled brightly at the Slug princess. "Calm down, Hime. As I was saying before the idiot joined us.. He's gotten a lot stronger during our time away from the village. And not just physically either. Idiot though he may be, he learned to fight in other ways than his endless reckless charging." he spoke in a more serious tone, though both Tsunade as well as Shizune could hear a hint of pride in his voice.

Gawking. Naruto was simply gawking up at his master. Aside from his compliments to his achievements during their trip, he had never heard Jiraiya fully describe his ability and growth like that. He could tell the Sannin was proud of what he accomplished during his training. His face beaming up with an ear-to-ear grin, crossing him arms and puffing out his chest proudly.

Tsunade nodded her head once, a smile gracing her lips as well. She was particularly glad to hear that Jiraiya seemed to have beaten some of that recklessness out of Naruto. Provided her fellow Sannin didn't exaggerate a little on that point. She sat back in her chair and smiled fondly at the blond. "I'm glad to hear Naruto has progressed so well during your trip. What level would you say he's currently at right now?"

"High Chunin, mid Jonin." was the almost instant reply of Jiraiya, much to the surprise of all three of the occupants of the office. Before any of them could respond he resumed talking to elaborate. "That's taking into account his still lacking amount of experience, both in missions and fighting powerful opponents other than myself. Also despite having grown something remotely related to a brain, he doesn't quite have the mental capabilities to be a Jonin." he spoke in a calm, serious tone. The slow slacking of Naruto's shoulders at the criticism did not go unnoticed to anyone that would look at the young blond. "However!"

His raised voice peaked everyone's attentions anew, again cutting them off from retorting to his words before he felt he was finished with his explanation.  
"_However_.. As you're all well aware, the boy has a real knack for thinking on his feet. His unpredictability is an asset in combat he exploits brilliantly. It more than compensates for the lack of experience he still has. Then there's the Kyuubi's chakra, which allows him to boost his strength even further if needed to gain an edge his opponent." he finally concluded with his eyes closed and dipping his head slightly. After letting his words sink in for several moments he looked up again with a grin. "All in all.. he's looking to become a fine Shinobi, Tsunade."

Tsunade sat staring at the white haired Sannin with wide eyes. She had of course expected Naruto to improve my great leaps in three years, but to hear Jiraiya practically boast about the boy's growth in such a blatant manner caught her off guard. She could tell Naruto felt the same, as he too stared wide-eyed at his teacher and perhaps even a fatherly figure to him. His cheeks had definitely coloured a deep shade of red from the barrage of compliments of his abilities.

Shizune had listened to his whole explanation with as expression of surprise as well. She couldn't believe how highly Jiraiya was speaking of his student, which he seemed to enjoy so much to berate and mock. The effect his words had on the blond was evident with a single glance. It took her several moments to rid herself of her shock while she smiled brightly at him.

Laughter roared out from the tall man, firmly patting Naruto on the head a few times. "Hahaha! The looks on your faces are priceless! See that, gaki! Hard to imagine you becoming a fine shinobi, cause you always act like such an idiot. Told you! Bwa...hahahaha!" he bended over slightly, arms covering his stomach as he tried to reign in his outburst of laughter.

"S-shut up, ero-sennin!" Naruto blurted out before turning his back to the occupants of the room, arms crossed and pouting with an annoyed look in his eyes. His left eyebrow twitching as he heard both Tsunade and Shizune giggling at him as well.

Just as their joined laughter at the blond started to die down, the door to the office opened revealing a blonde kunoichi. "Tsunade-sama, I finished the paperwork at the hospi-... N-Naruto?"

Naruto looked up towards the doorway and froze at who he saw. Before him stood no other than Yamanaka Ino, though she looked entirely different to three years ago in several ways. Her hair had grown out to a little longer than it had been before she cut it during the Chunin Exams. Part of the right side of her matured face covered by a long bang that hung to just above her shoulder, which cast a subtle shadow over her right eye. Much like Naruto, she seemed to have gone through a spurt of growth herself. Standing barely half a head shorter than Naruto now.

While it was clear she still favoured the colour purple, her outfit had seen a fair few changes. Gone was the sleeveless vest with the high collar, which she had switched out for a purple turtleneck halter top that left her stomach exposed much like her old vest had done only now she had no bandages wrapped around her waist and stomach. Still wearing a purple skirt, only this one had slits down the front and middle rather then the ones on the sides like her old skirt. A pair of black shorts could be seen underneath. Mesh armour was worn, starting just below the rims of her skirt running down her legs to disappear into her knee-high sandals. The girth of her sandals slightly wider around her shins, hinting to possibly a set of shin-guards hidden within. She also wore mesh armour on her legs, from halfway up her upper arms down to just above her wrists.

If it weren't for her platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes Naruto was certain he might not have recognised her. He could swear he spotted a hint of toned muscle on both her stomach as well as her biceps. He was brought out of his thoughts by the clearing of a throat.

"You quite done ogling me, Uzumaki?" Ino asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice, her arms crossed below her chest.

He twitched at that and snapped. "I wasn't ogling anyone! I'm not a pervert like Ero-sennin!"

"Pff..Yeah, right."

Their attention was drawn to the sound of giggling. They turned to face Jiraiya who was covering his mouth with his right hand's fingers while leering at Ino. "My my Ino-chan.. You certainly have grown into a fine looking young woman!" he said in his higher-pitched, perverted tone of voice.

A vein popped on Tsunade's forehead as she clenched her fist and grit her teeth. "Jiraiya.. You had better not be staring so pervertedly at my dear apprentice, or so help me I'll.." she let the threat hanging in the air as her knuckles cracked at the tightening of her already clenched fist.

Jiraiya turned around to Tsunade with that same look in his eyes still, his hands lifted to just above his chest where they mimicked to cupping something. "But Hime.. Surely you can see how lovely she has gro-.." His words were cut off as the Sannin was sent flying through the air, breaking straight through the door only to crash into the sturdy outer walls of the tower. Groaning pitifully from the Hokage's wrath.

Naruto blinked once, his eyes slowly trailing after the beeline his master had made to watch him firmly indented into the wall. He blinked again before bursting out into laughter. Pointing at the white haired man while shaking in amusement. "Hahaha, I told you Ero-sennin! I win, you owe me forty thousand Ryõ!" he said between fits of laughing, only for his humor to die out instantly as he felt a menacing presence right behind him. Shaking turning his head to Tsunade while breaking into a cold sweat.

"Naruto.. What.. the hell are you talking about?" she asked through gritted teeth, although she already had a fairly accurate guess.

"N-Nothing B-" was as far as he got before he too got launched through the air, crashing upside down into the wall right next to Jiraiya. "WILL YOU TWO EVER GROW UP?!"

"I-I..Still won.. E-ero-sennin.."  
"J-Just..shut up.. N-Naruto.."  
They both groaned before collapsing unto the floor.

Both Ino and Shizune just stood there staring at the two. It almost sounded like they had made a bet as to who'd piss off the irritable Tsunade off first. Which was.. Idiotic, at best. They glanced at each other, realizing they seemed to be thinking the same before they hung their heads in a deep sigh.

_'Figured.. Still an idiot..'_

They all paused a moment, although Tsunade still seemed to be shaking in her anger, when they heard voices coming from the corridor. "So.. Is that a normal occurrence here..?" asked the first, feminine voice. "*Sigh* Troublesome..." replied the second, who sounded bored.

The blond was slowly picking himself up from the ground, groaning out in pain as she pouted at Tsunade who still seemed to be glaring at both him and Jiraiya. "B-Baa-chan.. That really hurt.." he whined before looking up to see Shikamaru and Temari staring at him both with slightly widened eyes. His eyes lit up as she smiled brightly at the Nara. "Ooh, Shikamaru!"

"H-hello to you too, Naruto.." said Shikamaru slowly, not sure what else to say after that little display just now. The pineapple haired Chunin hadn't changed a bit for what Naruto could tell, aside from having grown in length. He had changed his clothing however. Black pants and vest, both seemingly loose-fitting, with mesh armour coming out the sleeves and legs of his clothing. Over his vest her wore the standard Chunin flak jacket. His Hitai-ate still secured to his upper left arm, although without the blue headband now.

Temari blinked her eyes once as she looked the blond up and down once. This was Naruto? The little twerp that had beaten Gaara and managed for her little brother to open his heart to his siblings at last? _'He sure has changed.. Appearance wise, anyhow..'_ she mused while sweatdropping slightly.

"Would you all be so _kind_ as to continue your conversations inside, and drag that poor excuse of a team-mate of mine in. Or kick him off the roof for all I care, either way works for me.." Tsunade spoke up loudly to the people in the hallways, moving to sit back down behind her desk before rubbing her temples to try and cool down. Both Ino and Shizune had been trying to calm the older blonde while Naruto spoke to the two outside.

At that moment Jiraiya casually jumped up to his feet, rubbing his head a little while chuckling to Tsunade as he stepped back inside the office. "Ugh.. Hime have you been working out? You seem to be hitting harder than I remember.."

"That's just cause you two always seem to piss me off!" the Hokage snapped back. Growling out a sigh while Shizune poured her a cup of tea. "Please calm down Tsunade-sama. I'm sure they.. ahem.. didn't mean it like that." she uttered with a cough, hardly believing those words herself even.

Naruto casually walked back in as well, laughing to himself quietly, followed by Shikamaru and Temari. The Suna nin briefly looked at the unhinged and battered door before shrugging and leaving it at that without bothering to try and close it, as it would be pointless.

Still rubbing her temples, she let out another deep sigh before finally taking a sip from her tea. Looking up to all the occupants of her office, fixing a glare on Naruto and Jiraiya once. "Right.. Now that we're all back inside, can we please try and be serious?" she spoke, the question more than obvious being directed at the two. Receiving a stiff nod from both she relaxed in her chair a little. "Naruto.. Despite Jiraiya's admittedly praise-filled description of your improvements, I'd still like to evaluate your skills. And I think I know just the one to test you. Right, Kakashi?" she snickered at the end of her sentence, glancing over to the windows to her right where a white haired head popped up suddenly in an open window. Rising slowly to reveal the mostly covered face of Hatake Kakashi, who was eye smiling and lifted one hand casually. "Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted happily, grinning at his sensei as he walked up to the man before the rest of Tsunade's words finally rung a bell in his head. "Huh? I have to fight you?!" he said while pointing his finger at the one-eyed Jonin, shaking slightly.

Kakashi chuckled at his blond student. "It's been a while hasn't it, Naruto. As for being pitted against me.." he said, turning to glance at Ino briefly before looking to the Hokage. "If you don't mind me saying, Tsunade-sama, I was thinking of having Naruto and Ino spar against one another by means of his evaluation."

Everyone looked surprised at that to different degrees. Jiraiya mostly just looked intrigued by he notion, same for Tsunade. Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly at the suggestion before a grin began to form on his lips. Troublesome though it they might be, that may just be an interesting match to watch. Temari and Shizune just blinked a few times, not having expected the Jonin to not test his own student.

Naruto was most shocked of all however. His arms flailing along his body while his jaw dropped, eyes nearly popping out from their sockets. "Whaaaaaaat?! You want me to fight -Ino-?! But.." he glanced over to the Yamanaka that seemed to be just as surprised at him, only she recovered from it much faster and sported a slight grin. She frowned at him as he was about to say something he'd surely regret.

"Don't you dare say I'm weak, idiot. You're not the only one who's been training these past three years, got it?" she snapped at him. She was well aware of how weak she was in comparison to most of the rookie Genin three years ago, and little annoyed her more than being compared to that now as if she was still that weak.

Jiraiya nodded his head firmly. "She's right Naruto. You should learn to not underestimate people. I think it's an excellent idea, Kakashi. Pitting Tsunade's student against my own to see how they both improved." he said with a wide grin to Tsunade, who seemed to catch on right away with a smirk and a nod.

"Baa-chan's.. student..? Ahh! Ino, you trained with Baa-chan these three years?!" Naruto said in surprise, having completely missed that earlier.

Ino nodded once with a proud grin. She had become Tsunade's apprentice only a day after Naruto had left. Well, Tsunade and Shizune's as they both spent a lot of time training her. "I have, yes. For the most part at least. Pretty sure Tsunade-sama had informed Jiraiya-sama of this though.." she said, glancing over to her teacher first then over to the white haired pervert who innocently looked around.

"She did. I chose not to share, cause it'd be more fun that way." Jiraiya retorted with a chuckle as he watched Naruto's surprise taking it's time to pass.

Shizune, Temari and Shikamaru just stood at the sidelines as the conversation carried on. Temari was politely waiting her turn to discuss her matters with the Hokage, but couldn't deny she was curious to the sparring match between the two blondes. It was also rather amusing to listen to all their banter. The Nara had little choice other than to stay and wait as well, being the escort for the Suna kunoichi.

Naruto finally shook himself out of his stupor. He still found it hard to believe he had to proof how strong he had become against Ino, of all people. But he figured there was more to it, since she -was- trained by the old hag after all. "Well.. If you're all sure about that, I suppose.."

"Heh heh, you might want to be careful about underestimating her Naruto. I didn't make the suggestion to make it easy on you, I assure you." Kakashi said with a chuckle to which Ino nodded her head once. He would've liked to evaluate Naruto personally, but he couldn't deny that he was curious as to Ino's growth as much as Naruto's. Tsunade had been nothing but praises about the girl the past year. Both being trained by one of the village's strongest Shinobi, they were bound to put up a great match against each other.

Nodding once at his sensei while crossing his arms, pondering on the spar he was to have with Ino. _'Guess he's right.. After all, Baa-chan's almost as strong as Ero-sennin..'_ he mused to himself before something else popped to his mind suddenly. "Oh! By the way, Kakashi-sensei! I brought a present for you!" he said with a wide grin as he walked up to the Jonin with the gravity defying hair. Reaching into his kunai pouch to pull out a small light blue-greenish book, holding it out to Kakashi.

Kakashi's lone eye nearly bulged out in shock as he looked at the book Naruto had just pulled out, seemingly for him. His hands trembling as he slowly reached for it. "I-i-is that.. w-what.. I.. t-think it i-i-is..?" he stuttered out, taking the book out of Naruto's hands and carefully opened it to peek inside.

"I know how much you love those books Ero-sennin writes. I didn't think it was that great though.." was Naruto's response much to Jiraiya's displeasure. Grumbling something about some brat and no respect for good literature. _'It's even signed by me, and the book's not even in circulation yet! Hmpf!'_

His eye quickly scanned the first few lines causing him to giggle to himself a little before a cough from Tsunade brought him out of his trance and he snapped the book shut. "Ahem.. Right then, so you agree with my idea then Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade nodded at him with a smile. "I think it's a great idea, actually. Pitting our students against each other in a spar sounds interesting, don't you agree Jiraiya?" she said, turning to the still brooding frog sennin. He looked up finally and nodded. "I agree. Will be fun!"

"It will be for one of us at least.." Ino chuckled with a sly grin, knowing full well the idiot was going to underestimate her. In all honestly, she couldn't exactly blame him for that either. "Ready when you are, Naruto."

"Now now, Ino.. I'm sure Naruto's tired after having just gotten back from his trip. We had better leave it for tomorrow, when he's properly rested." said Kakashi with his usual calm voice.

"Huh? I'm feeling just fine, Kakashi-sensei! I agree with Ino, let's get to it right now!" Naruto instantly replied. He was eager to show everyone how much stronger he had gotten. He hadn't exactly been slacking off with Jiraiya, after all.

"Maa.. Even so, it's best to get a good night's rest before such a big spar. Well then, see you tomorrow. Ja ne!" Kakashi happily retorted before making a one handed ram-sign and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Leaving most of the office's occupants staring blankly at the window he was just at.

"Uhm.. What do you think got him in such a hurry, Tsunade-sama?" asked Shizune to which Tsunade just chuckled and leaned back into her chair while crossing her arms. "Oh.. I have a fairly accurate guess."

Jiraiya nodded slowly a few times, arms crossed and his eyes closed. "Mm-hmm.. After all, he has good tastes.."

Shikamaru chuckled lightly as well. "He's off to read that troublesome novel, I would guess.."

Realization dawned on Ino and Naruto at the same time and they made an identical motion of pressing one fist into their open hand. "Hah, of course!" they said simultaneously. They blinked at that, glared at each other then looked away in a huff. Shizune chuckled happily at both Kakashi's antics as well as that of the two blondes.

Temari just stood and looked confused at everything that happened in this office. These people were so much more care free than the higher-ups in Suna, it just baffled her.

* * *

After everything had been said and done in the Hokage's tower Naruto, Ino, Temari and Shikamaru were walking down the streets of Konoha. Naruto had been thinking about his sparring match the next day. Against Ino, no less. He still had a hard time believing she could have improved -that- much, but hearing Tsunade, Jiraiya and Kakashi all say he shouldn't think too little of her he had to wonder if he was missing something.

He eventually just left it at that. Then a smile formed on his lips as he thought to how he and Tsunade had said their goodbye's for the day. She didn't often smile at him like that, and it had thrown him off guard for a moment. She had welcomed him back in a soft voice, to which he just gave her a massive smile back and nodded at the woman.

"So.." Ino began, quite fed up with the silence from her fellow blond. Quite sure Temari and Shikamaru who walked side by side behind them were in quite a comfortable silence with one another. "I never actually gotten the chance to ask you before. How was your training trip with Jiraiya-sama? And how did he ever accomplish to get you out of that atrocious orange jumpsuit of yours?"

"Huh?" he asked, broken out of his thoughts to look at Ino. "Oh, well.. My jumpsuits had all gone completely to ruins because of the training, and due to some growth of my body as well. I didn't have enough money to buy new clothes though, cause I lost almost all of it to Ero-sennin in a few bets. Was his new way of stealing my money, I guess.." he chuckled. "Since he was forced to buy, he refused to buy me anything remotely similar to what I used to wear, so after lots of bickering in the shop we settled for this eventually." he said, motioning to his outfit. He smiled brightly then and shrugged his shoulders. "I actually kinda liked it after a while, so I don't mind."

Ino giggled at him, covering her mouth behind the back of her right hand as even her eyes were filled with laughter at the blond. "So rather than letting him steal it outright, you kept letting him cheat you out of your money? Hahah, you're such an idiot!" she laughed, ignoring his pouting whine directed at her.

"So.. Let me get this straight. Your master.. Kept stealing your money from you?" Temari asked incredulously from behind them. Their conversation having drawn both her and Shikamaru's attention. Much like Ino they both had noticed the notable change in the blond's attire, but hadn't exactly gotten a chance to speak with him yet.

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Temari with a pout. "Hey! I won some money from the old pervert too, y'know! Just.. Not as much as I lost.." he muttered quietly at the end. Recovering quickly he perked up a little as he peered curiously between the Suna nin and the lazy Nara. "So... You two on a date or something?"

The question sent Ino into a new fit of giggles as Temari glared at him, instantly jumping to her own defense although with a very vague blush on her cheeks. "Tsh, me? Dating this lazy ass here? Hardly.."

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome woman.." though flinched back slightly when she turned on him with a glare. He looked away with another deep sigh, while on his cheeks the faintest of a blush was also present.

Ino leaned over towards Naruto and whispered not so quietly. "They totally are." to which Naruto just chuckled. Shikamaru muttered something to himself about troublesome women while Temari glanced at Ino with a feint look of hurt in her eyes. "And I thought we were friends, Ino.."

"Oh but we are, Temari-san! This was just too easy to let fly!" she retorted with a grin, causing Temari to grumble to herself about 'some Konoha Shinobi'.

A silence had set in between the four again for a brief moment before Naruto decided to keep conversation going still. "So.. What are you doing here in Konoha then anyhow, Temari?"

Temari looked up to Naruto and responded calmly. "I'm here as Suna's Ambassador to Konoha. The Chunin Exams are soon. I've been going back and forth between Suna and Konoha to take care of the preparations for it." she said with her hands slowly moving to rest on her hips.

"And, troublesome as it is, once I started working on the exams as well I was told to be the guide and escort of Suna's Ambassador." Shikamaru cut in with his bored sounding voice.

Naruto's lips formed a small 'o' as he nodded at the two once. "Ah, I see.. The Chunin Exams, huh? Heh, sounds nostalgic.." he said to apparently no one in particular.

Suddenly something dawned on Shikamaru as he looked at Naruto. "That reminds me.. What will you be doing?"

"Huh, me? What do you mean?"

"About the Chunin Exams, obviously. After all, you're the only one of our age group that is technically still a Genin." said Shikamaru calmly. There was no one of their class that Naruto could team up with to enter the Exams, which could make it difficult for him to advance to Chunin. Though to him it was already quite obvious that the troublesome blond would likely be able to pass with any random team he'd be put on.

It took a few moments for those words to sink in before Naruto practically exploded. "WHAAAAAAT?! I'm the only one still a Genin?! Oh man..." he sulked at the end at being the last one of his age that still hasn't advanced to Chunin yet. He slowly turned his head towards Ino. Guess there had to be some truth to the words of both Sannin and his sensei if even Ino made it to Chunin. "You're a Chunin too, Ino?" But instead of giving him any response she just smirked at the Genin.

"On a side note.. Suna's Kankuro, this person here and Neji have all made it to Jonin rank. And two months ago, Ino became a Tokubetsu Jonin." Shikamaru said calmly, though a slight smirk touched his lips at mentioning his team-mate's promotion.

Naruto's jaw dropped at that as he started trembling on his spot. Once again he turned to Ino completely flabbergasted. Very slowly his right hand rose up a little to point shakily at the blonde. "Y-You're.. A..A J-Jonin?!"

Ino grinned widely at him, her left hand resting on her hip while she gave Naruto the peace sign with her right hand. She had a particular amusing twinkle in her eyes as she watched him completely dumbstruck by her rank. "Well, Tokubetsu Jonin actually. But yes."

He paled slightly, gawking and staring at her for moments longer. _'H-How the hell.. Of all people.. Loud, annoying Ino.. Became a Jonin?!'_

"H-huh.. Baa-chan's standards must've dr- gnh!" he was cut off as a fist grabbed his shirt by the collar courtesy of the short-fused blonde, pulling him down to meet her eye to eye. He shivered at the deathglare she gave him. "What was that. Idiot?" she asked in a low snarl.

"N-nothing, nothing at all! Heh..heheheh.." he nervously uttered, scratching the back of his head a little with a weak grin. He sighed in relief as she let him go and looked away with a huff, crossing her arms. A thought then came to him as he spun back around to Shikamaru and Temari. "Oi, what about Gaara? Did he become a Jonin too?"

A soft, proud smile spread across Temari's lips at that question. She noticed both Ino and Shikamaru had smirked at that as well. "Gaara.. He's become our new, and fifth.. Kazekage."

And again, Naruto just stood there frozen on the spot. Eyes wide and jaw close to unhinging itself from his head. He couldn't believe how much had changed in just three years, even if he himself had gotten tremendously much stronger.

"I-I see.. Everyone's become a Chunin..or higher.. And G-Gaara even became the Kazekage.." he said in a rather sullen tone, causing all three to frown at him in sympathy. It didn't last long however as he rebounded suddenly with a large smile on his face. "That's.. Awesome! I bet he's accepted by the entire village now then, huh?" he asked while clenching his fist with a fire of determination burning in his eyes. A grin forming and rapidly spreading from ear to ear as his finger raised to point towards the Hokage Monument. "I'm not gonna lose to him! Better watch out, Gaara! Now I'm definitely going to have to become Hokage!"

Ino giggled softly, her eyes sparkling a little as she watched Naruto's determination flare up at the knowledge about Gaara being Kazekage now. _'Hmm.. It almost seems as if the idiot has grown up a bit after all.. Almost.'_ she mused. She noticed both Shikamaru and Temari smiled at the blond as well, something Naruto somehow seemed to force upon faces of his friends. She let Naruto have his moment for a while longer before she leaned over and smacked him lightly over the back of his head with a sly smirk. "That's all good and well, Naruto.. But you best make sure you don't lose tomorrow, if you really wish to become Hokage that is."

He turned around to Ino and returned her grin with his own, giving her the thumbs up. "You bet, Ino. Better hope you're as good as Baa-chan claims, or you might just end up getting hurt."

Temari smirked slightly at the challenge between the two blondes. "Hmm.. I think I'll come and watch your spar as well, I've become most curious of how it'll end up going." she said with a hint of humor audible in her voice.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that. "Weren't you returning back to Suna in the morning tomorrow?"

"I was. I decided to begin my travel back a few hours later. And as my guide, that means you will have to come watch these two as well."

"Trou-" "blesome, yes, I know. Can thank me later for giving you an excuse to watch your friends' evaluation tomorrow." Temari grinned victoriously at Shikamaru who just grumbled.

"She got you there, Shika." said Ino with a grin matching Temari's before she turned to Naruto again. "I'm going to get ready for our sparring match.. Better do the same, idiot. Don't disappoint me tomorrow, I'd like to get -some- workout from this." she said with a sly wink at the blond before waving at the three and heading off into her own direction.

"Same goes for you, Ino!" Naruto yelled after her, then turned to the other two. "I'd better get going too, I guess.. I'll see you two tomorrow then, get ready to be amazed!" he said with a grin and then darted off towards his home with a wave back at them.

Shikamaru let out a deep sigh. "Those two are just too troublesome.."

"For once.. I agree with you.." Temari remarked with a sigh as well. Sweatdropping at the fact she agreed with the lazy Nara.


	7. Chapter 7: Evaluations

Back again with my latest chapter. My first ever written out fight, so I hope it turned out alright. Lemme know what you think. Both on the fight as well as on both Ino and Naruto's strength currently. **  
**

Already a fair bit into chapter 8 after a overflow of ideas and inspiration suddenly, planning to update it this weekend!

Still don't own Naruto. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Evaluations**

"Where the hell is that idiot?!" Ino growled out through gritted teeth. A vein throbbing dangerously on her forehead while she trembled in frustration. She stood with her head bowed down a little and her eyes closed, arms crossed while she tried her hardest to remain patient.

Kakashi looked up from his precious book to Ino with his patented eye-smile. "Maa, Ino.. I'm sure Naruto will be here soon." he said in his usual calm voice.

Even Kakashi had only been one hour late to arrive to the planned sparring match between Naruto and Ino. Of which the former was yet to arrive and already more than two hours late. A fact that really seemed to be getting on Ino's nerves. On the outskirts of the clearing where they were supposed to have their evaluation match stood all the other spectators, some of which did not seem to fare much better than Ino in their wait.

"Damn brat, what's taking him so long?" Tsunade said in an annoyed tone, leaning her right shoulder against the tree on which Jiraiya stood a few branches above her. Shizune stood calmly at her side, keeping her patience intact though even with her the corners of her mouth twitched a little at the blond's tardiness.

A few steps away from them stood Temari and Shikamaru, the latter leaning his back against a tree with a calm expression on his face. Arms crossed and eyes closed as he breathed evenly. Temari turned to him with a frown, she too was at the end of her patience. "How can you be so calm? That moron is over two hours late now!"

Shikamaru looked up with his usual bored expression and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Knowing Naruto.. That troublesome idiot's most likely still asleep."

Jiraiya chuckled as he crossed his arms and leaned his back against his tree as well, smirking widely at his assumption to the blond's absence. "Nah.. He's awake. He wouldn't miss the chance to show off."

They all looked up at the white haired Sannin as if he was insane while he just smirked. Just then a blur of black and yellow rushed out the surrounding forest and into the clearing. Landing across from Ino with Kakashi in between the two. A huge grin on his face as he raised his right hand in greeting. "Yo."

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Ino instantly snapped as she saw the blond land in front of her with that carefree smile of his. To her it felt like a personal insult, as if he wasn't taking her serious at all.

Naruto just scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. "Had to take a detour due to a black cat that was in my way. Ended up getting lost on the road of life because of it."

Ino just stood staring at him at a complete loss for words at such a pathetic excuse, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Kakashi looked at Naruto all teary-eyed, filled with pride over his student. He quickly recovered and nodded slowly at the blond. "Such things happen, I completely understand."

Turning to Kakashi she pointed at him with an incredulous look in her eyes. "Understand?! That was a freaking lie!" she yelled before turning to Naruto, her hand curling into a fist as she glared fiercely at him. "I'm going to enjoy beating the crap out of you far more than I should.."

Meanwhile in the outskirts surrounding the clearing Jiraiya was laughing at his student, he figured the idiot was doing it on purpose. He had grown a real knack for being more annoying than he used to be, if he wanted to be. He could hear Tsunade mutter insults and threats at Naruto while Shizune just hung her head in defeat, sighing deeply. Glancing over to the other two he spotted Shikamaru sported a subtle smirk, clearly also amused by the situation while Temari seemed to frown in annoyance.

His eyes twitched a little and he glanced over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. Sighing to himself. _'Clever, Naruto.. Very clever.' _he mused to himself before turning to shout to the blond. "Naruto! Would you mind dispelling the henged shadow clones you have spying on us here?"

They all turned to look at the Sannin before two bursts of smoke erupted near them. One in a tree a little behind Jiraiya and another in between Shizune and Temari. They blinked at that and turned to look at Naruto in surprise who seemed to be sighing.

"Ero-sennin, that's not fair!" Naruto yelled back.

Ino raised an eyebrow at him, her anger briefly forgotten. "Why did you have shadow clones spying on them?" she asked. Kakashi turned to Naruto to await his answer also, although he already had his suspicions about it. _'Was he late cause he was waiting for his clones to carefully put themselves in position?'_

Scratching the top of his head Naruto grunted lowly. "I figured Baa-chan and Ero-sennin would be commenting on our fight, and maybe reveal some of what you learned past three years. In that case one of the clones would dispel itself so I would be aware of that too and give me an edge." he explained in a defeated tone, bummed by Jiraiya's interference.

Kakashi's eye narrowed at the blond. He suspected that were the case. A very sly plan indeed. It seemed that he was taking Ino more serious than he had been letting on thus far.

"Not.. Sure what you're talking about exactly, but I'm glad Jiraiya-sama caught you." Ino said with a slight grin forming on her lips. She was really looking forward to shocking Naruto with her progress and was happy the idiot was prevented from finding out through banter between their masters. She had to admit she was impressed by the idea to spy for information however, even if she didn't fully understand how he used his clones for it.

"So Naruto sent two henged shadow clones to spy on us, expecting to learn of Ino's abilities from Tsunade-sama or yourself? And when one would dispel he would learn what his clone heard?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically to Jiraiya, who nodded at him. "Then I'm assuming he was late because his clones, already under a henge, needed time to get near us unnoticed. Using the frustration in people as a distraction to avoid people noticing his placed clones."

Tsunade chuckled quietly once. "That's a really cunning plan he had, for an idiot. Not that I'm complaining as it's in favor of Ino, but why did you tell him not to?" she asked Jiraiya while keeping her eyes on the two blondes in the clearing.

"It's a solid strategy I admit. But Naruto needs to learn to fight against opponents he knows next to nothing about. Doesn't take a genius to see the Yamanaka girl is nothing like she was when we left. Good practice for the idiot to study his opponent during the fight." Jiraiya spoke in a serious tone, carefully choosing his words to avoid mentioning Akatsuki.

The Hokage nodded and smiled a little at that. "Good idea, Jiraiya. Makes it more fun for Ino to beat the tar out of the idiot, too." she said with a forming smirk. In truth she was eager to see what the both of them were capable of now.

A wide grin formed on the Toad Sage's face as he glanced down at Tsunade. "Careful, Hime. Your girl is as likely to underestimate the idiot as the way around."

"Hmpf."

* * *

"Well then.. Ready to get this underway finally, Naruto?" Ino asked her fellow blond as she unfolded her arms. Lifting her hands to pull on her black, fingerless gloves to ensure they were comfortable.

"Yup! Let's get to it dattebayo!" Naruto instantly responded.

Kakashi nodded at the pair and put his novel away. This spar wasn't something he wanted to miss himself either "Alright you two. Come at each other with intent to kill. Remember, this is an evaluation of the progress made these past three years. No holding back. Understood?" he said calmly to which both blondes nodded at him. Raising his right hand in the air for a moment before chopping it down. "Begin!" he shouted and jumped out of the way towards the clearing to join the spectators.

"This should be interesting." Kakashi said as he joined with the group, turning to watch both blondes seizing each other up carefully without making a move.

Ino grinned widely, she was looking forward to showing off the results of her training. "Naruto.. Try to keep up, hmm?" she winked before she braced herself and in a blur she closed the distance between the two in an instant.

Naruto's eyes widened as he barely managed to step back and avoid the fist narrowly flying past his face. He didn't have time to retort to Ino's remark as he dodged another punch aimed for his head, jumping back quickly while making a cross sign with his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled as four clones popped into existence which all charged at Ino instantly.

She figured he'd sic his clones on her and halted her assault the moment Naruto jumped away from her. Raising her fists in a defensive stance she began skipping on the balls of her feet lightly. Eyes narrowing at the charging clones, easily dodging a fist to her stomach and then a kick to her right side. The clones showed no discipline or co-ordination in their attacks, allowing her to gracefully dance around the four. Not a single attempt close to hitting her and she smirked at that. Seemed the idiot was still all about the reckless brawn and no technique. Nimbly arching her back to let a leg fly over her head she flipped back unto one hand. Bracing herself she instantly pushed herself up into the air with her one hand, twisted in midair with a roundhouse kick crashing into the faces of two clones which burst into smoke. Landing on her left leg she quickly jumped again to avoid a swipe for her lone leg, spinning in the air she hooked her right leg behind her to kick a third clone full in the chest to dispel it as well. Landing in a crouch she launched a strong uppercut which knocked the last clone under the chin. She jumped back and glanced at Naruto with a smug look on her face as she watched him gawking at her.

A genjutsu. It had to be a genjutsu! There was just no way Ino just did what he saw her do. Effortlessly dancing through the attacks of his clones and destroying them with equal ease. It seemed she had improved upon her taijutsu a great deal since that fight between her and Sakura in the Chunin Exams. He quickly shook himself free of his shock and repeated his favourite jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said as this time six clones were created that charged at Ino while he crossed his arms to carefully watch her fight them.

"Really? Just going to throw clones at me?" Ino snarled as she flawlessly fell back into her routine of dodging the clones. She narrowed her eyes and grunted as a punch grazed her left shoulder, spinning on the ball of her right foot to sent a swift roundhouse kick for the clone that hit her. Jumping up afterwards and twisting herself repeatedly as she kept dodging the remaining five clones' attacks. _'They fight differently all of a sudden! Damn it, they were just fooling around before!'_ she inwardly yelled as she flipped over a charging clone's head and kicked it away before landing in a handstand, instantly somersaulting a few times to create a distance between the clones and herself. She took a breathe as the four clones came at her again. _'Guess I'll have to be serious about this idiot..' _ she mused as she braced herself. The moment the clones were upon her she smirked and begun blocking and dodging them with ease, dancing through them like before with supple movements. Dispelling one by one with simple jabs and kicks rather than any more grand movements. A light pant escaping from her as she glared at Naruto only to blink in surprise as he was gone.

"Where are you, coward?!" she yelled before she felt something approaching her from above. She gasped and her eyes bulged, barely managing to jump back in time.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as the blue sphere of surging chakra crashed into the ground where Ino stood little more than a second ago. The attack creating a crater under the blond as dust was blown all around him. He looked up to where Ino jumped to only for his eyes to widen just as a foot crashed into his head, sending him skidding across the clearing. He quickly picked himself up and held a hand against the spot Ino's foot connected to, groaning in pain. "That.. hurt.."

She was panting softly, recovering from her shock at how easily he had distracted her with his clones to launch such a destructive attack on her. She rolled the shoulder one of his clones hit her once. Seemed that she would have to be really careful with Naruto. His taijutsu seemed to be far below her own, but he could still overwhelm her with a hoard of clones. Her eyes narrowed at the smirk on Naruto's face, then widened as she heard a puff of smoke burst behind her. Turning around she she was met with the brunt of a strong headwind.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" the blond screamed out with his right palm aimed at Ino, watching her get blow away from the attack. He looked over to his dobbelganger who nodded at him as they both set to charge at her. Their movements completely identical as they each reached into their kunai pouches and hurled several shuriken at Ino before flying through a short sequence of hand signs. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" they both called out simultaneously.

The blast of Naruto's attack sent her flying through the air only to land on her right side, skidding across the ground for a small distance before she jumped to her feet. She looked up to see several dozens of shuriken coming her way, cursing to herself she focused chakra to her legs and kicked herself off the ground in a blur of speed. In an instant she was at the Naruto that she had kicked before, figuring it must be the real one as this one hadn't dispelled. Clearly he wasn't prepared for her speed allowing her to throw a hard punch into his stomach. Not pausing her assault as the blond keeled over in pain she raised her knee up into his face lifting him off his feet. Jumping up a slight bit she twisted sideways and kicked him in the chest with her right leg. She twisted as she landed on her left foot and punched the recklessly charging second Naruto in the face, making the clone burst into smoke as she expected. She looked back to the real Naruto only to see a beaten log laying in the dirt. _'Kawarimi! Damn it!'_

Naruto was hiding behind one of the trees along the outskirts of the clearing, peering around it while panting softly. He really underestimated the former fangirl it seemed, though so far it looked like she was all about taijutsu. In that case he just had to keep his distance from her, which was difficult with that speed of hers. He was just glad she was nothing close to Lee, the mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. He could keep up with Ino at least, probably outmaneuver her even if he would tap into some of the Kyuubi's chakra though he had no intend on doing so in this spar. He suddenly got a gleam in his eyes as an idea came to him, crossing his fingers for his favourite jutsu again.

* * *

Jiraiya whistled. "She's a quick one. Not something you taught her is it, Hime?" he said matter of factly without looking away from the clearing where currently only Ino stood.

The Hokage sighed out once, ignoring the muffled giggle from Shizune behind her. "I tried teaching her taijutsu myself, but she had no affinity for my form of fighting it at all. The style she ended up training in seemed to suit her almost perfectly though. A somewhat personalized form of Capoeira, supposedly." Tsunade said.

"Courtesy of Gai no doubt?" her team-mate asked instantly. She nodded once and chuckled once to herself. "Who else is better suited to find a suitable style of taijutsu than -the- taijutsu expert of Konoha? Ino is adamant in her denial she forced herself to train with Gai and Lee however. Wouldn't have a clue as to why." she said, a wide smirk forming on her lips as she heard Shizune break out into a fit of giggles at that. The both of them had teased the younger girl more than once with it.

_'Gai helped Ino train? I'll never hear the end of it from him..'_ Kakashi thought, groaning at the idea of Gai bragging about training a seemingly second taijutsu specialist, much like Lee.

Jiraiya nodded his head once. "I agree on Gai to be a most obvious choice. Though it does come as a surprise for the girl to have focused on taijutsu as much."

"Ino has taken a vital part of being a medic nin to heart. Medical jutsu require a lot of chakra, something she doesn't have at sheer abundance like Naruto for example. Also, as you've already seen, she's excellent at dodging attacks. An incapacitated medic nin can't heal anyone after all." Tsunade explained slowly, glancing up at her former team-mate with a grin. "She turned out to be quite a prodigy, hidden behind the obsessive fangirlish manners."

The Sannin nodded again at the blonde. He had to admit he was impressed with Ino's progress. She grew out of her fangirl 'phase' and turned into a seemingly determined and proud kunoichi. He looked back to the clearing and his lips formed a small 'o'. "Oh.. Seems like Naruto's ready to continue finally."

* * *

As the two Sannin were speaking Ino was scanning the area with narrowed eyes, panting softly as she tried to find her opponent. She was fully on guard, ready to react to any movement that'd catch her eye. It seemed that Naruto wasn't planning to be subtle in his next attack however, as suddenly over a dozen blondes came rushing at her from the outskirts. She groaned to herself at that. More clones.

She braced herself for the clones to get close enough before jumping over the first to approach her, hooking her leg back to kick it while using her right hand to block a punch from a second clone. Using the leverage the clone provided she launched herself behind it and with a roundhouse kick hitting two more clones. She then quickly fell back into her defensive form as she began to gracefully dance around the clones while looking for an opening. Finding her chance she blocked a punch and grabbed the clone's wrist, using the force of it's punch to send it flying into another clone just behind her. Spinning around she punched yet another clone in it's face. However it didn't dispel, instead grinned at her. Her eyes widened as she tried to jump away as fast as she could, feeling a surge of chakra from this clone. _'Shit!' _

"Bunshin Bakuha!" was the last thing Ino heard before the clone exploded. She had gotten away from it in time for any real damage to be done, but the shockwave still sent her hurdling through the air. Recovering to her feet as swiftly as she could she watched as all the remaining clones dispelled themselves, creating a smoke screen together with the dust from the exploded clone.

"Fuuton: Shunkuu Gyoku!" Naruto yelled from within the smokescreen, inhaling deeply before blowing out several pressurized air bullets at Ino. Hearing her gasp and grunts in pain confirming his success, he rushed out towards the blonde while taking a kunai from his pouch. Time to win this fight, he figured. His eyes widened as he saw a carved up log instead of his target, cursing himself for being fooled so easily. He spun around just in time to duck under the incoming kick aiming for his head. He quickly back flipped to create a distance between them, flashing through hand seals . As he figured, Ino was upon him the moment he landed again with her right arm cocked for a punch. He held the final hand seal before pushing his palm out to his opponent. "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" he shouted, catching the Yamanaka off guard and hitting her point blank with his jutsu.

Somewhere in her flight she coughed out in pain, a bit a blood spurting from her mouth as she felt bruises all over her body from taking the full brunt of that attack. She skidded across the ground several times before coming to a stop. Groaning out in pain with her left arm covering her stomach she glanced around quickly, spotting the small pond she had landed right in front of. She hated to admit it, but that was really impressive. Jumping backwards to stand atop the water surface she watched Naruto closely, waiting for him to make his next move as she tried to catch her breathe.

Naruto was panting from the exertion, cursing to himself as he had hoped to knock her out with that close quarter hit from his attack. He could tell it was by far without effect on her, but the fact she practically jumped back to her feet almost instantly made him groan. He -really- underestimated her it appeared. Taking a moment to catch his breathe before he rushed at the blonde, crossing his fingers mid-charge. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said as four clones formed around him, charging Ino along with him with a kunai drawn from their pouch.

A deep sigh left Ino's lips as she watched five Naruto's charge at her. _'Guess I don't have much of a choice..' _she mused to herself as she straightened herself and quickly formed a series of hand seals. The water around her stirred up into motion as her chakra laced throughout it. She was just in time as one of the blondes was about to hit her with a slash of his kunai. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" The water surged into a violent torrent surrounding her in a pillar of water. Blocking the attacks and dispelling two clones that were too close to her.

She panted heavily but stood at the ready for the blond's attacks as the torrenting tower of water collapsed back unto the water surface. The moment her shield was gone four blurs shot at her, too fast for her to respond to in her surprise she was locked in by four Naruto's each holding out a Rasengan to her. The sensation of the surging chakra so close to her skin sending shivers down her spine.

"Gotcha.." he panted out with a wide grin. Finally he had won the admittedly challenging spar. Only to be met with disappointment as 'Ino' grinned back at him, slowly dissolving into water. _'Mizu Bunshin!' _he shouted mentally, looking around to spot Ino in midair already kicking one of his clones across the face. Before he could react to her she sped out of his sight, only to feel his chin exploding in pain from an uppercut. His clones jumped away from the blonde as she focused on the Naruto that didn't burst into smoke from her punch and jumped up to spin counterclockwise and deliver a powerful kick back at him with her left leg. She braced herself upon her landing, remaining on guard as the clones seemed reluctant to attack her. She couldn't help but grin at that.

"D-damn.. She fights just like Fuzzy Brows..!" one clone exclaimed, sweating in fear of being 'destroyed' by their blonde opponent. "No wonder she's so good at taijutsu! She must've trained with him and Bushy Brow-sensei!"

Ino gritted her teeth and rounded on the clones, the fact they were just clones forgotten as she yelled at them. "I did -not- train with those two creeps!"

The clones cocked their heads as they looked at each other. "Think she's speaking the truth?" "Maybe.. She'd had to have trained with them a -lot- to get this strong, seeing how weak she was before." they nodded at each other, oblivious to Ino's rapidly rising ire at the two. "Besides.. Bushy Brow-sensei makes mini clones of himself out of people he trains so much!" again they nodded. But one of the clones suddenly got the mental image of Ino in one of Gai's body-tight green outfits and blushed madly as he looked at Ino once more. "S-shame.."

"W-what the hell.. Is with the blushing, idiot?!" she snapped at the blushing clone. The clone looked her up and down again with it's face turning even deeper red. "N-nothing..!" he said nervously before he was met with a fist to the face by the irate blonde. The moment the clone burst into smoke the other one blushed deeply and began sweating in fear. "T-that pervert..!" he shouted which only drew Ino's attention to him. Too paralyzed in fear she kicked him in the stomach hard, dispelling it in a puff of smoke. She was shaking in anger, those -clones- were ogling her!

"DAMN IT YOU PERVERTED CLONES!" screamed Naruto as he finally recovered from Ino's assault on him, only to be invaded by the memories of his two clones. A blush on his cheeks as he wiped some blood from his mouth. "Why do the ones with attitude always seem to survive.." he muttered as he groaned out in pain, pushing himself to his feet. Looking up he broke out in a cold sweat as she saw Ino slowly approaching with a threatening glare, cracking her knuckles. "U-uhm.. Y-you know that w-wasn't me..right?" he pleaded as he slowly backed away from her.

"They're copies of you, Uzumaki.." Ino snarled out threateningly, not halting her advance.

"Some of them have really bad attitude! I swear!" he kept pleaded, still trying to rid himself of the mental images and the blush sporting on his cheeks. He sighed in relief as Ino finally stopped, though she still glared at him in that same menacing manner.

She sighed out, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took several deep breathes to try and calm herself down. The idiot was far too tricky and cunning in a fight to lose her temper at him, aggravating though he may be. "Fine.. Can we please continue our match now, so I can beat you into a pulp still?"

Naruto nodded quickly. Bracing himself as his hand slipped into his pouch. He waited for Ino to charge him, which didn't take long as she seemed a little -too- eager to beat him up still. Jumping back to avoid a quick one-two punch from Ino he threw down several smoke bombs following it up with a cross sign with his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted, surrounding the Yamanaka with his clones. One by one they charged the blonde out from the smoke.

Ino groaned. "Damnit idiot, can you please do something OTHER than these clones?!" she screamed as she dodged the first clone and chopped it's neck to make it burst into smoke. She narrowed her eyes as another single clone attacked her. What was he trying now, bore her to death? She contemplated to herself to jump out from the smokescreen, but decided against it cause there was no guessing how many idiots the idiot spawned this time and how far out they had spread. She bended backwards to evade a punch and kneed him quickly. She suddenly heard groans spreading through the smoke. "Owh.. Lucky bastard dispelled before pain hit him!" "She's mean!" "S-so cruel!"

"Damn it Naruto! Be serious already!" she shouted out into the clouds of smoke. Soon a Naruto charged out from the smoke at her with more speed than he had shown the entire fight. She jumped back with a flip, catching the blond under his chin with her right foot. Before she landed two more shot at her. Not as fast as the one she just disposed, but still faster than the ones at the beginning of their fight. She dropped into a split the moment she landed, causing one of the clones to punch the other in the face dispelling it. Shifting her right leg on the ground before leaning over and raising herself up in a handstand, turning herself with a kick to the other clone's neck before jumping back to her feet. She panted heavily and dropped her stance slightly. Seemed that close-up attack from Naruto's Fuuton jutsu took more out of her than she thought. _'And of course now.. Idiot decided to pick up pace.. How much stamina does he even have?!' _

She was broken out of her thoughts when all around her she heard Naruto's voice. All calling out the same name of a jutsu she never heard before. "Konoha.. Hidden Taijutsu Ougi!" She cursed to herself and focused chakra to her legs and with all her strength she jumped away from the smokescreen. Landing well away from the cloud of smokescreen, she narrowed her eyes as she didn't spot a single clone near her. "SENNEN GOROSHI!" she heard from right behind her. But before she could turn around to dodge she felt pain exploding in her backside, eyes bulging as she was sent launching through the air in pain. Crashing into the dirt face-first as she held unto her rear in pain.

* * *

Shikamaru was gazing in shock at what he had just seen Naruto do. His jaw dropped and eyes widened. "I.. Can't believe that troublesome idiot just..did that.."

The blonde from Suna wasn't faring much better. Her eyes wide in disbelief at what she just witnessed before something seemed to snap in her and she burst out laughing. "Haha.. That's moron's so dead..!"

Kakashi was shaking slightly, sweating a little while praising himself for his idea to pitch Ino and Naruto against one another. The mere thought of being hit by that attack made him shudder. "He's.. Learned such dangerous techniques.." he muttered.

No one seemed to respond to the one eyed Jonin, all still in shock to Naruto practically signing off on his own funeral to be held right then and there.

Jiraiya was busy rubbing his palm across his face. He could not believe the sheer stupidity his student just showed. _'Well.. Guess Akatsuki will not longer be a problem.. Rest in peace, Naruto..'_

"Where the hell.. Did he even learn such a ridiculous.. W-whatever that was?!" Tsunade exclaimed loudly, her eyes briefly darting to Kakashi who instantly stiffened and broke into a cold sweat. Shizune was still gawking at Naruto. She was so convinced he had grown up after watching him fight like he did. She smacked her hand against her forehead and sighed deeply. _'Should've known better, I guess..'_

* * *

Naruto was still sporting a massive grin across his face, proud of his accomplishments on that technique. He was about to turn to Kakashi to give him a thumbs up when a immense killer intent washed over him. "NAAAAAAARUTOOOOOOOO! YOU'RE DEAD!" he instantly paled at that and looked to where Ino had landed, only to see she was gone. Frantically he started looking around before pointing to his clones that were no better off as their smoke cover had dissipated by now. "You lot.. Find her and protect me..!"

"Kai!" Ino yelled while holding her hands in a tiger seal. Not a second later a blur appeared in the midst of all the clones before they started dispelling with a frightening pace. From what little he could gather from his clones' memories she was moving like Lee had during the Chunin Exams after he removed his weight. While she couldn't quite compare to him in speed, the brief memories flooding his brain told him it was still amazing. He was shaken out of his moment of awe as he realized all of his remaining clones had been wiped out already and Ino's rage was once more directed at him. He gulped and raised his hands in a calming gesture, sweat rolling down the back of his head. "N-now I-.." he was cut off by a fist colliding with his face, sending him hurdling across the ground.

The moment Naruto came to a halt he instantly received a knee to his chest followed by an elbow to the jaw. The look in Ino's eyes was nothing short of murderous as she twisted on her right foot and bend sideways, delivering a crushing kick to Naruto's head. Closing the created distance swiftly she proceeded to beating the living daylights out of her fellow blond in her indignant rage caused by his 'jutsu'.

Screams and wails of agony could be heard all across the clearing as all the spectators stood, sweatdropping slightly as they witnessed the blond getting pulverized for his actions.

"May you rest easy, Naruto.. Maybe in the afterlife will you learn to not piss off an irate blonde.." Jiraiya muttered out loud.

"J-Jiraiya-sama! That's a h-horrible thing to say..!" Shizune retorted quickly, though she felt herself silently agreeing with the man. That stunt of his may well be the stupidest thing Naruto had ever done.

Panting heavily with her fists still clenched she looked down at the blond laying several feet away from her, groaning and twitching lightly after his overly thorough beat down by Ino. She dropped to her knees and leaned forward to lean on her hands as well, heaving deeply a few times to catch her breathe. That was the first time she had reduced her chakra weights to zero during a fight, and she could tell her body was not handling the strain of her increased speed too well yet. Looking over to the blond again, bruises covering his body, she wondered whether she didn't go overboard a little. _'Idiot deserved it though..'_ she thought to herself. Exhausted as she was, she had at least won the 'spar' with her losing it.

".. Is he dead?" Temari asked nervously. She had laughed earlier, but the beating her fellow blonde kunoichi dealt out was nothing short of brutal. She heard someone sigh next to her. "Troublesome blondes.." Shikamaru muttered to which she narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything.

Naruto was slowly picking himself off the ground, groaning in pain all the way till he finally stood to his feet albeit shakily. "G-guess.. I kinda..d-deserved that..huh?" he asked between breaths, one hand holding his head as he felt a massive headache building up.

Ino could only stare up at him in shock. _ 'How the hell is he getting back up after that?!'_ she thought to herself as Naruto straightened himself out until a audible crack sounded from his spine. He whined and slowly collapsed back to the ground in pain. "Huuuuuuuuuuurts..." he uttered weakly. She couldn't help but giggle at that. _'Pathetic idiot..'_ she mused to herself, her anger slowly fading away completely.

He pushed himself up to his feet again, more carefully this time as he looked at Ino. "I haven't..lost yet.. Ino.." he panted out, trying to catch his breathe much like she was. She pushed herself up slowly as well, grunting as she felt the muscles in her legs aching badly. She grinned weakly at him, setting into a taijutsu pose. No matter how annoying he was, or what perverted things he did, she still enjoyed the fight a lot. And she was certain he wasn't giving his best this entire time either. "Ready to finish this, idiot?" she said after regaining her breathe properly.

Groaning as he braced himself as well, he shook his head. "No.. I want my pillow..and the rest of my bed, actually.." he muttered. She just chuckled and smiled at him before turning more serious again, jumping forward with a quick one-two punch followed by a high-kick aimed for Naruto's head. He seemed still in a daze from his previous beating as he barely dodged the first punch, but took the brunt of the remainder of Ino's assault lifting him off his feet. As he landed, however, a puff of smoke revealed a dented wooden log. She cursed herself for allowing him time to Kawarimi and looked around to find three Naruto's charging her. More clones, but there were only three blondes this time. He must be as tired as she was by now, even with his unworldly stamina. All three were sluggish at best, but she herself wasn't faring much better with her aching legs.

Locked into hand-to-hand combat with three Naruto's she carefully moved with little steps, avoiding and blocking most hits. Only a few punches and kicks got through, and those were without much force behind them she noted. Finally seeing an opening she launched a right hook at one clone, dispersing it in smoke instantly. Twisting on the ball of her foot she jammed her right elbow into the next clone's temple. She jumped forward and span around only to feel pain erupting in her stomach as she was too slow to catch the last Naruto's attack. She skidded back slowly, holding her stomach as she glared up at the blond. How he always seemed to have the luck of being attacked the last was beyond her. Did he Kawarimi with them to save himself or something? Shaking it off she took up a defensive stance again, eyes narrowed at Naruto. It seemed her fellow blond had too little patience and charged at her with a sluggish roundhouse which she ducked under and quickly sent her left fist in an uppercut under his chin. Her eyes widened as she felt a familiar surge of chakra coming from Naruto. "Bunshin Bakuha!" _'Ah crap..' _she thought as the clone exploded right next to her.

Flying through the air for several feet she eventually crashed down against the ground, coming to a halt as she rolled over unto her back with a groan. She lost, she could feel herself being unable to possibly pick herself up anytime soon. As she opened her eyes she was met with a close up view of a blue sphere of surging chakra, and a heavily panting and sweating Naruto. His hand trembling as he held the Rasengan out to her.

"I... Win..." he heaved out with a wide grin. Looking down at Ino waiting for her confirmation which he got in the form of a slight nod before she spoke up. "Y-yeah.. well done, idiot.." Ino panted at him. As soon as he heard that the sphere in his hands dissipated and he fell backwards with a smile, completely worn out from their fight. If someone had told him two days ago he would be squaring off against Yamanaka Ino, and have to be serious about it in order to win he'd have mocked that person mercilessly.

The sound of clapping from approaching figures caught both their attention as the spectators made their ways over to them. "Very well done, you two. I'm most impressed. Aside from Naruto's.. whatever idiotic move that was.." Tsunade said, ending with a sigh as she had no idea what to label that 'attack' as. Definitely not a jutsu. She shook her head once as she knelt down next to Naruto and placed her hands over one of his many bruises, her hands enveloping in a green glow. Shizune was already kneeling down at Ino's side to heal her injuries as well.

"Ino.. You've held back the entire time you went on missions with use this past year, haven't you?" Shikamaru asked. He knew his team-mate had grown stronger, the fact she had become a Tokubetsu Jonin was proof of that after all. But what he saw here today was crazy. His only reply from the blonde was a smug grin, which was all the answer he needed. "..Troublesome woman."

"Temari-san.. Could you.. please smack Shika for me?" Ino asked in a sweet voice to the Suna nin who just shrugged and slapped Shikamaru across the back of his head with her flat hand. "Sure.. Why?" she asked with a sly grin forming on her lips.

_'Why is every blonde I meet so damn troublesome..'_

Naruto was just laughing at their banter, coughing occasionally between his laughs. "Ugh.. hurts to laugh.." he whined. "Then don't, brat. Makes it easier for me to heal you too if you'd just lay still." Tsunade retorted sharply.

The blond ignored the Hokage however and looked up to see Jiraiya standing over him with a grin and his arms folded. "Well done, idiot. You proved all three qualities I'd describe you as after these three years. One, a strong Shinobi." he said with a calm voice, but something in his eyes changed and Naruto knew he was going to get horribly mocked by his master now. Even though he was a little giddy inside at the compliment. "Two, still an idiot." Jiraiya continued, earning him several nods and chuckles from everyone other than Naruto who just huffed and pouted. "Three, you're a little pervert." he finished with a wide grin. Again everyone seemed to silently agree with this, much to the blond's chagrin.

"I'm nothing like y-you and Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin.." Naruto muttered to himself, though the white haired man heard him.

"Oh no, you're right about that Naruto. Kakashi and myself don't go and..probing peo-..." he was cut off from mocking his student by a fist to his face courtesy of Tsunade. "Shut it, Jiraiya." she said as she sat back down to continue healing Naruto. "Healing the brat's hard enough without wanting to strangle him for being such a little perv.."

"Not a pervert.." he grunted out as he felt his bruises slowly healing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to his left to see Kakashi squatting next to him with his usual eye-smile. "You did great, Naruto. I'm proud of you." the white haired Jonin said with a nod at his head. Naruto just smiled brightly and nodded back with a thumbs up. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"You definitely are a pervert, Uzumaki.." Ino sighed as she slowly sat up, still panting softly while both her eyes were half lidded in exhaustion. "Oh, and an idiot. Can't forget that." she added with a chuckle.

"Agreed." said both Tsunade and surprisingly even Shizune. Temari was also nodding her agreement while Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome.. But I agree as well. Still I think you somehow turn it into your advantage." he said to which Temari whirled on him with a grin. "You mean aside from getting the tar beat out of him?" she said with a chuckle.

Naruto groaned out as he slowly sat straight up as well, his body aching all over. "Sure.. Gang up on the cripple why don't you." he pouted.

* * *

An hour had passed as the two blondes were discussing their sparring match with each other and their spectators. They had recovered a fair deal by now, though they could both still feel their body aching all over. Nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't fix according to Naruto. The general consensus had been that both of them progressed by a highly impressive margin in three years. Though the look in Ino's eyes told him she wasn't quite done with him yet. Temari had already taken off with Shikamaru in tow, as she was already leaving for Suna much later than she had originally planned.

"Come to my office tomorrow morning, you two. We'll give you the final verdict then, though I'm satisfied with both your growth of the past years." Tsunade said as she stood back to her feet together with Shizune. "I have to get back now however. There's..paperwork..waiting for me.." she grumbled out as the two of them left. Ino chuckled at her master's hatred to the vast amounts of paperwork the Hokage had to endure.

Naruto just grinned and waited for the blonde to be out of earshot before speaking. "She could just use Kage Bunshin to handle the paperwork for her.. Ain't telling her that though.." he said slowly, causing Jiraiya's eyes to widen before bursting out in laughter. "Haha, that's rich Gaki! Can't believe Hime hadn't thought of that yet!"

"Tsunade-sama has been too busy trying to destroy or scare her mountains of paperwork with either killer intent or a fire jutsu, I heard." said Kakashi with humor evident in his voice.

Ino wanted to retort. To defend her master. But she just blushed lightly as she knew the one-eyed Jonin was right. She herself had caught Tsunade trying to rid herself of her paperwork more than once. She giggled softly. "She still loves her job though, loathe though she may be to openly admit it."

"Definitely not to us she won't." Naruto said, chuckling as he glanced over to Jiraiya who nodded back at him with a wide grin. "Oh yes. After all, it's cause of us she's stuck with paperwork and had to tone it down with the sake. Now that I think about it.." "..It's a miracle she hadn't killed us yet.." Naruto finished his master's sentence with a snicker as they nodded at each other once more.

Ino and Kakashi watched the interactions between the two with a smile. It was clear they had bonded a lot on their trip, quite obvious even. But they generally didn't show as much as they seemed too busy being at each other's throats about almost everything.

"Anyway Gaki, good fight.. I'll go see what Tsunade-Hime has in mind on how to deal with you." Jiraiya said and turned to walk off with a wave over his shoulder.

"I shall leave you two to it as well, much to do.." Kakashi said as he already had his little book out in front of him again, making a single hand seal with his right hand to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Naruto shook his head a little. "Still don't see what's so great about those books." he said before a deep rumbling sound erupted from his stomach. He blushed a little and rubbed his stomach. "Ugh.. Hungry.."

Ino chuckled at him with a light shake of her head also. Jumping up to her feet with a groan at the stiffness in her legs. "Wanna go get something to eat, Naruto? Winner treats the loser.." she said with a sly grin.

"Sure.. With the money I got from Ero-sennin yesterday I don't mind treating you to some ramen." he said as he jumped to his feet as well. Wobbling on his feet lightly before steadying himself.

She sweatdropped at him and hung her head in defeat, a deep sigh sounding from her lips. _'Of course.. Ramen..'_

* * *

Another chapter than ended up being much larger than I expected. Still no serious conversations, but they'll come around next chapter for certain!


	8. Chapter 8: Bonding

Finally ready with the next chapter! Took me much, much longer than I had intended. Struggled a lot with this chapter for some reason, which will likely be evident in a few hiccups here and there. Despite that it's a new record in length as it's over 10k!

Anyway, hope you will like it. Let me know what you think in any case!

I don't own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Bonding**

The two blondes entered the ramen stand and instantly Naruto yelled out to the owner and his daughter. "Oi, old man! Ayame-neechan! I'm back!"

Ayame come out from the back and her eyes widened slightly as a bright smile formed on her lips. "Naruto-kun! Welcome back. My you've really grown!" she exclaimed happily as she leaned over the counter to get a closer look at him. She looked over her shoulder briefly. "Dad! Look who it is!" she yelled before turning back to the blond. "So how have you been? It's been really quiet here with you gone so long."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down on one of the stool, grinning slightly as she shrugged. "I've been fine, Nee-chan. How about you and the old man? Come up with any new ramen yet?" he finished excited at the prospect of trying out new ramen dishes.

Ino just quietly sat down next to Naruto as the two interacted amicably with each other, a soft smile on her face. These people always seemed to put Naruto in a really good mood, she noticed. She looked up to see the owner, Teuchi, walk out from the back with a wide smile upon seeing Naruto. "Well if it isn't our most favourite costumer! You look strong, Naruto." he said as he stood before the two of them. "So what'll it be, hmm? Got plenty of catching up to do with all the ramen you've missed out on!" he laughed.

"Miso pork!" Naruto yelled out instantly, his grin widening as she rocked in his chair like a little child. "And keep 'em coming too, I'm starving!"

She groaned out at the thought of his tasteless table manners she'd be subjected to, again. Why did she even suggest going to get something to eat together? "I'll have a Miso pork too, Teuchi-san." she said calmly, trying to ignore the look of shock she received from Naruto at that. The two stand owners nodded and began preparing their food in the meantime.

"Since when did you stop eating vegetable stuff exclusively?" _'If eating at all, that is..'_ he muttered the last words to himself with a cough, looking curiously at Ino waiting for a response.

Narrowing her eyes at Naruto for a moment before answering him. She was certain she heard him muttering some sort of insult or the like under his breathe. Deciding to just let it go she simply gave him a rather sheepish grin. "Tsunade-sama kind of.. Beat my dieting habits out of me shortly after she accepted me as he apprentice." she said as a shudder ran down her spine. The first few months of her training on Tsunade had been downright torture for her back then. "Quite literally.. I might add." she continued with a cough.

The blond just broke out laughing at the mental image Ino provided for him. One hand holding his stomach while the other smacked onto the counter a few times. "Haha, must've been hell for someone like you!" he spoke in a brief moment of control before bursting out in laughter again.

"Someone like me?" she asked in a sweet voice, with an innocent smile on her face. "Whatever do you mean by that, Naruto?"

His laughter stopped in an instant as he gulped once. He didn't know why, by that sweet tone just spoke of impending doom to him. He straightened up a little and decided to answer her more seriously. "Someone akin to a figure and diet obsessed fangirl as you were then?" he said and instantly smacked his palm across his face. That was definitely not going to go over well he figured while bracing himself for what followed.

She blinked at him and sat there stunned for a moment. Those were the exact words Tsunade had said to her three years ago, something she begrudgingly agreed on when looking back now. She sighed and turned back to the counter. "..Can't believe you hit the nail on the head so accurately." she muttered out loudly enough for him to hear.

"Huh?" he said, looking up in surprise a the lack of physical retribution from his words. Cocking his head as he stared at her curiously, her words only now sinking in. "What do you mean? You're not angry?" he asked a little unsure.

Chuckling lightly with a shake of her head before propping her head up on her right fist with a soft smile. "More so at myself than you if I were, really. It took some time, but I agree with that being a..painfully accurate description of the kind of _kunoichi_ I was back then." she said calmly, though Naruto didn't miss the mocking tone in her voice when she referred to her younger self as a kunoichi.

Scratching the back of his head he chuckled back at her. "Wow you've really changed, Ino. Other than having gotten so much stronger, I mean!" he said with a large smile. Just then two steaming hot bowls of ramen were placed before the two of them. Naruto instantly twisted himself to turn to the dish with stars in his eyes. "Oooooh my sweet sweet Ichiraku ramen.. how I missed you!" he spoke loudly as he grabbed his chopsticks and began to attack his dish. "Itadakimasu!"

"And you keep making me shift from thinking you have changed.. to realizing you're still the same idiot.." Ino sighed with a palm slowly dragging down her face. Bowing her head in thanks to Ayame followed with a much quieter "Itadakimasu.." before she too began to enjoy her meal. Trying her best to ignore the loud slurps and disgusting sounds that...seemed to not be there at all. She looked over to see Naruto devouring his dish with gusto, but with a seemingly practiced expertise he was wolfing it down -without- the usual slurping sounds and what not. She sweatdropped lightly at that. _'..Point proven' _she mused, finally turning to her bowl of ramen to gracefully eat her food.

He swallowed the ramen in his mouth and turned to Ino with a cocked head. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Nothing.. nothing.. just enjoy your food.." Ino sighed out between bites. She figured it'd be unlikely for her to have any kind of conversation with the addict until he had at the very least two bowls in his system. Naruto just nodded swiftly at her and turned his full attention back to his food. Soon enough he put his chopsticks down and grabbed the bowl with his hands, putting it to his mouth to drink the remainder of the broth down.

"Aaaahhh, as delicious as I remember! Seconds pl-.. You're the best Ayame-neechan, thank you!" he said as the second bowl was put before him in the midst of his sentence, which he attacked with renewed vigor.

Ayame giggled into her hand. "You're welcome, Naruto-kun. We figured you'd be needing more than just one. Just don't forget about your lovely companion here, hmm?" she finished with a wink to Ino who just smiled back at her with a knowing smirk. _'Too late for that'_

Naruto was completely ignoring the two as he continued to devour his second bowl of ramen at frightening speed. After eventually slamming the empty bowl back down he wiped his mouth with a content sigh. "Keep 'em coming!" he yelled with a wide grin. However as the third bowl was put before him he began eating it at a much slower pace, while still much faster than any normal person.

Ino raised an eyebrow at this development and snickered to herself. She really didn't know what to think at this point. Finishing her own meal with a delighted sigh before placing her chopsticks down over the bowl. "Thank you for the food Ayame-san, delicious as always." she said with a light bow of her head, smiling at her before turning to her fellow blond. Hoping the slowed pace of eating indicated he was capable of conversation by now. "So.. Naruto.. You were holding back against me, weren't you?"

He blinked and swallowed his ramen before looking over to Ino in surprise. He noticed the glint in her eyes and sighed, bowing his head a little. "Y-yeah.. Kinda."

The blonde Tokubetsu Jonin chuckled at this and just smirked, folding her hands under her chin. "Figured as much.. Why? I thought you were eager to show everyone how much you've grown?" she asked with a slowly rising right eyebrow.

"Well.. I still got to show plenty, didn't I?" he said with a sheepish chuckle. "Besides.. I didn't want to risk serious injuries on you." he added before turning back to his ramen. Nerves began to interfere with his desire to eat however as he felt the air around him drop several degrees.

"I'm not so weak and frail as I was three years ago, damn it!" Ino snapped at him, turning her gaze away from him with a tick mark throbbing on her forehead.

Naruto sighed deeply and lifted the bowl up to his lips, gulping down the broth despite the sudden mood, feeling it to be a shame to let it cool off. Setting the bowl back down her turned to Ino, who seemed even more agitated at having been ignored. He sighed again before adapting a more serious look on his face. "I didn't mean to say you're weak, Ino. Honestly, you really surprised me with how much stronger you've gotten. Your expertise at taijutsu along with your speed makes you really hard to fight without being serious."

Ino's eyes widened as she looked over to Naruto, surprised by his serious tone and even a serious look on his face. Ayame raised an eyebrow from behind the counter as well as she glanced over her shoulder at the pair upon hearing Naruto speak in such a serious tone. Before Ino could say anything, however, Naruto continued speaking. "It's just that.. Aside from the occasional mission Ero-sennin had me do, my only real sparring 'partner' was him. Against Ero-sennin I can just freely throw anything and everything at him, and know he can easily take it.." he paused for a moment as he sweatdropped a little himself before speaking again, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not sure how much of what I've been throwing at him can be as easily swatted aside by anyone other than him. So yeah.. I kinda feared I might go way overboard and ended up taking too some silly tactics in our fight instead.."

Ino gawked at him, both eyebrows high on her forehead as she processed his words in her thoughts slowly. She briefly glanced over to Ayame who looked as surprised as her, but quickly adapted a soft smile and nodded once before going back to work. Blinking once she finally collected her thoughts as she peered at Naruto with an inspecting gaze. "That.. Actually made a whole lot of sense.. Sorry for snapping at you, and thank you.. I guess. Though that makes me wonder. How strong are you -really- then?"

Pondering it for a moment Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to recall Jiraiya's description of his level to Tsunade. "Well.. Ero-sennin mentioned to Baa-chan that I was at High Chunin, Mid Jonin level. Held back only by inexperience and.." he sighed and hung his head. "Mentally not being a Jonin."

Laughter sounded from the ramen stand as not only Ino broke out laughing, but Ayame seemed to hear as well if the muffled giggling sound into the hand covering her mouth was any indication. "Hahaha, I really have to agree with Jiraiya-sama on that! With all that stupid crap you pulled in our spar!" she exclaimed with a cheerful voice, ignoring Naruto's pouting face. Her eyes filled with amusement as she watched him cross his arms and turn away with a huff, grumbling something about cruel women.

"Pff! What makes you Jonin material then, huh? I'm stronger than you!" he said in a childish voice, pouting while trying to ignore the women's laughter.

Taking a few moments to reign in her laughter she smiled at her fellow blond, her eyes still twinkling with amusement. "Tokubetsu Jonin, Naruto.. There's a difference. And a fairly big one in my case, I reckon."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders once with another huff coming from him, muttering loud enough for Ino to hear. "Still a Jonin though.." he then turned to Ino with narrowed eyes. "How -did- you become a Jonin anyhow?"

She raised an eyebrow and just stared at him incredulously for a moment. "Really? I've been honored to be the apprentice of none other than Senju Tsunade-sama. By far the best in the field of Medical Ninjutsu.. And you're seriously asking me how I got my promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin?"

Blinking a few times before it dawned on him suddenly. He chuckled quietly as a blush formed on his cheeks. "Got me there, Ino.." he said sheepishly. "Hmm.. Guess you must be a pretty awesome Medic nin then, right? To be promoted past Chunin for it."

"Actually.. It wasn't -just- my skill in Medical Ninjutsu that got me promoted." Ino started with a proud smile on her lips. She still remembered the day of her promotion well. While Tsunade wasn't above handing some praise to her directly, it was not in abundance. And that day, she had heard nothing but from her master. Looking back at Naruto to see she still had his full attention, she continued. "As I'm sure you had figured already, I've focused on improving my Taijutsu as much as I could on the side of my medic training with Tsunade-sama."

Naruto was nodding swiftly at her a few times, giving her his full attention as she explained. Most likely eager to find out what it takes to be promoted, she figured. Chuckling inwardly at him. "Reason for me focusing on Taijutsu as much as I have is, for one, to preserve chakra. I don't have the largest of chakra pools, and Medical Jutsu's take a lot of it. So if I'm to tend to wounds and such, I can't go and fling my chakra into an endless streak of jutsu like you can. So I trained to become more capable of defending myself with a focus on keeping my chakra output to a minimum, Taijutsu felt like the best answer to that, for me. After all, everyone knows that Lee can't mold chakra. But he's still an incredible fighter, with just his Taijutsu."

"Plus.. In taking up a form of Taijutsu that puts emphasis on -evading- enemy attacks, I can prevent myself from getting badly hurt. After all, can't tend to my team's injuries if I become incapacitated myself. Sure, I supposedly could still be capable of healing myself first. But that'd mean I'd have less chakra left to aid my team and friends, which as I said.. I don't have in sheer abundance like you have for example." she finished her explanation and was surprised to see that Naruto seemed to fully understand what she told him as he just nodded once and took on a thinking pose. Cocking her head a little she waited curiously for his response. She noticed from the corner of her eyes that Ayame was listening to the both of them with rapt attention as well, as there were no other costumers currently.

Rubbing his chin for a moment he pondered on Ino's words. "So.." he began, turning to the blonde. "You trained to defend and fend for yourself in a particular style that focuses on dodging and evading before offense in order to avoid situations where you can't perform your main role as a Medic nin? Instead of just support, you can take an active part in a fight while taking care to, ideally, remain unharmed yourself and have chakra left to tend to possible injuries your team has sustained?" he droned on seemingly more to himself than to Ino as he was still in his thinking pose and hardly even looking at Ino.

Ino blinked and slightly gawked at his surprisingly accurate analysis. That's twice now in a short amount of time that he hit the nail on the head almost perfectly. A smile slowly began to form as her surprise faded to the back of her mind. The ramen girl seemed impressed with the blond as well as she stared at him with awe clear in her eyes. _'Probably first time he showed a shred of intelligence in here..'_ she mused with a short giggle in her head.

"That why Baa-chan promoted you? Because you trained in a way that improved your capacity as Medic nin when out on missions?"

Naruto's voice broke her out of her musings and she chuckled, shaking her head a little. "Really.. Where did that idiot from before go? Acting all smart and all. But yes, that is essentially it. A Medic nin that's suited for front-line combat situations is not very common as most aren't really that capable fighters. After having me gain more field experience through a series of missions she eventually decided to promote me to my current rank of Tokubetsu Jonin. That was about two months ago now."

A soft chuckling came from behind the counter as Ayame leaned over it a little with a twinkle in her eyes. "Oh yes, I remember that day Ino. You and your team came here to celebrate. That team-mate of yours almost ate more than Naruto-kun tends to, even though he kept complaining he'd still have preferred to celebrate with BBQ." she said cheerfully. She hadn't minded his constant complaints at all, as the boy did compliment the ramen more than once during their time here.

Naruto was just staring at Ino in shock, slowly pointing a shaking finger up at her. His seriousness crushed by Ayame with that tidbit of information it seemed. "Y-you.. Wanted to celebrate w-with.. Ramen?!"

Ino pinched the bridge of her nose with a deep sigh, grumbling darkly to herself before sending a glare at Ayame for mentioning that. Taking a deep breathe to calm herself she rubbed her temples. "Yes, I chose to celebrate by treating everyone to ramen instead of BBQ which had become tradition for us. I figured it'd be less disgusting watching Chouji eat ramen. Plus I was paying, so it was the cheaper option! So _stop_ looking at me like that! It means nothing." she half snapped at him while crossing her arms, averting her eyes from both of them with a light hue of pink on her cheeks.

"I can vouch for her on that, Naruto-kun. She definitely did not come here at least once a week for the past two and a half years or so.." Ayame said with a subtle grin on her lips. The way these two interacted with each other just made it far too tempting for her to tease them a little.

A tick mark appeared on Ino's forehead and both her eyes and lips twitched slightly. Trying her hardest not to honor the jab with any response while fighting the blush coloring her cheeks. So she had grown to somewhat like the food from this particular ramen stand, so what?

He nearly dropped off his seat as he roared out in laughter, both his hands holding his stomach as he bellowed out in glee. Only interrupted by the occasional heaving for air. The idea of the most diet-obsessed girl he knows having seemingly grown a liking to ramen was too much for him. Completely oblivious to Ino's growing ire he tried to straighten himself and turned to her. "Haha, y-!" before he could even utter a single word he found himself on the receiving end of the back of Ino's left fist. Sending him flying out his seat and right out from the ramen stand, his body dragging across the ground a little before coming to a halt. His head spinning from the blow as he lay on the ground in a daze.

Ino turned her back to the blond while crossing her legs and propped her head up on her right fist. Her left hand tapping on the counter as the vein on her forehead bobbed in agitation still. Looking up to see Ayame grinning sheepishly at her. Despite her agitation her voice remained surprisingly calm. "Hurt me deep, Ayame.. Just know I hate you."

"Well at least you dropped the formality to me. No need for the façade any more now, hmm?" Ayame countered with a chuckle.

"_Really_ hate you.."

Leaning over the counter she cheekily poked Ino's cheek with a snicker. "Consider ourselves even now." she said with a wink to which Ino puffed and looked away before muttering. "..Well played."

Naruto stumbled back into the stand, rubbing his head with a groan of pain. Slowly wandering back to his seat. "Ugh.. The hell happened? One moment I was laughing, the next.. all went black.."

Sending Ayame a glare to cut off any more witty remark from her friend she turned to Naruto with a deadpan look. "Call it justice for being rude to a lady."

"Ladies don't retort to violence.."

"What's that, idiot?" she snapped.

"N-nothing, nothing!" he quickly said and raised his hands in front of his chest in a self-disarming manner. Glancing to Ayame he noticed she was grinning in amusement. He knew she was always cheerful and nice, but he couldn't remember her sporting such a mischievous grin before. Looking at Ino he cocked his head, his gaze shifting between the two once. ".. Did I miss something?"

"*Sigh* Obviously. Seeing as Ayame.." Ino glared at her briefly. "..already ran her mouth off, I'll just say it before she gets more fun on my account.. Yes, I've gotten to like an occasional bowl of ramen. And yes I've been coming here rather frequently. Though lately that's been more cause I enjoy chatting with Ayame than anything else." she said matter of factly.

"Just giving my dear gossip queen a taste of her own medicine, is all."

"Sure.. Embarrass me first, then be all sweet to me.."

Glancing between the two some more Naruto couldn't help but wonder just how much he had missed in the past three years. "I.. See, I guess. Doesn't explain how you.." he said, pointing at Ino accusingly. "..started liking ramen though."

"I never really disliked ramen, per say. I disliked the fact it was.." she paused for a moment, sighing softly with her head hanging down a little. ".. it was 'unhealthy and bad for my diet'.." she shuddered. "Glad Tsunade-sama..'helped'..me get past that."

Naruto nodded once with a big grin. "Yeah, makes sense I guess. You can't really not like ramen after all! It's the king of foods! Speaking of which.. How about another bowl for me, Ayame-neechan?!"

"You're hopeless, you know that right?" Ino asked as she sweatdropped at him. Ayame just nodded with a smile and looked over her shoulder to the door leading to the kitchen. "Dad, another one for Naruto-kun!"

"About time!"

He was practically bouncing in his seat waiting for only his fourth bowl still. He was much too distracted with their conversations to think of ordering his next bowl. Thinking to what they were discussing earlier made him remember something that had popped to his mind before Ayame joined their conversation. "So Ino.. Being a Tokubetsu Jonin now, does that mean you can actually legitimately boss your team around like you did three years ago?"

Her eyes narrowed at him with a little twitch of her right eye. She did not enjoy that insinuation of his, even if aside from the not so subtle insult it was still a valid question. Deciding to just let it slide, for now, she nodded once. "Technically, yes. Provided we're not on a mission with Asuma-sensei or another Jonin I -could- hand out all the orders and pull rank whenever I'd like. But.. For us, Shika's still the team captain despite me now outranking him. After all, he's the strategical genius. Not me. Unless it's about anything medical related of course, then even Asuma-sensei has no say in the matter." she said with a cheerful, almost sing-song voice at the end causing Naruto to sweatdrop. _'Almost thought she was less bossy.. Hah, what a joke.'_ he thought to himself.

"Wait.. You three don't always go on missions with Asuma-sensei? I thought you were a team?" he asked. Just then a steaming bowl of ramen was placed before him by Ayame. Sending her a grateful grin he eagerly began eating again, though at a much slower pace as he occasionally glanced at Ino indicating he was in fact still paying attention to their conversation.

Shaking her head once. "Of course not. Since all three of us are no longer Genin we're no longer an official team. Surely even you know that once you become Chunin you begin taking missions with other teams and the like, right? Though, admittedly, the three of us are still put on the same team quite often. We -are- the second generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation after all!"

Swallowing a mouth full of ramen he nodded at her in understanding. That did make sense he figured. "What about everyone else?" he asked before turning back to his food.

Tapping her chin a few times in thought as she pondered on the subject a moment. "Actually.. now that I think of it, most of our age group are still kept together most of the time. Hinata, Shino and Kiba are still going on mission together mostly. Though that's not surprising as they're practically -the- best potential set up to become an elite tracking team. Neji and Lee's team did become an official four-man cell with Gai-sensei too. Typically named 'Team Gai'."

His eyes sparked in recognition for a moment as he lifted the bowl into his hands and drank down the broth before putting the empty bowl back on the counter with a grin. "Another one please.."

Chuckling softly to the blond Ayame nodded and turned around to help her father out back, leaving the two to their conversation. For now.

"Speaking of Fuzzy Brows.. I know I asked it earlier during out match, but did you train with them these three years? You moved just like them a few times, plus.. Bushy-Brow sensei is -the- Taijutsu expert.." he asked as he turned back to Ino, not missing the groan erupting from her.

She sighed out and shuddered once at the memory. "Once again right on the mark, Naruto.. Fine. Yes, I trained with Gai-sensei and his little mini-me.. After I had a good grasp of the essentials of Medical Ninjutsu and Tsunade-sama was satisfied with her.._physical conditioning_..of me.." another shudder shot down her body. The Hokage had definitely not been gentle with her, specially the first few months. "Anyhow.. After that was done, I started thinking of how to become the best Medic nin I could be. I spoke to Tsunade-sama about wanting to learn Taijutsu, and listed my reasons which I mentioned earlier. That was the first time she openly admitted she was proud of me as her apprentice too. She began teaching her form of Taijutsu to me but.." she smiled sheepishly as she began scratching her neck in a very Naruto like manner. "It felt too.. Brutish, for me. I had a hard time feeling comfortable fighting like that. So eventually.. She told, no ordered, me to go seek help from Gai-sensei. I'm really grateful for his help, and that of Lee's, but.. I prefer to keep that part of my training blocked out from my memories if possible.." she finished with a deep sigh, her head hanging down a little in defeat.

He nodded at her, only taking his eyes off of her once as he turned briefly to Ayame to thank her for his new bowl of ramen. Nodding again as he began eating his ramen, his right eye still gazing to Ino as she explained how she had ended up training with the two spandex wearing Taijutsu experts. A wide grin formed on his lips as she had finished. "Wow.. That's very unyouthful of you to say, Ino.."

For a brief moment fear filled Ino's eyes at those words, looking around her swiftly before she realized it was Naruto who had said that. She definitely did not want those two morons whining and pouting at her! She turned to Naruto who still grinned widely before reaching out, grabbing his collar roughly and dragging him close to her and away from his precious ramen. "I swear on my father's name.. If you dare start talking like those two, I'll develop a Medical Jutsu just for you to remove all taste buds from your tongue so you can NEVER taste your precious ramen again. Clear, Uzumaki?!"

Eyes wide as saucers and his jaw nearly touching the ground he meekly nodded at her in utter shock at what she had just threatened him with. Trembling all over he quickly shot back to his spot and turned his full attention to his ramen with a nervous glance to Ino every now and then. _'E-Evil woman..'_ he muttered to himself.

Ayame in the mean time had broken out laughing, supporting herself on the counter with one hand as the other was clutching her stomach. That was most likely _the_ most terrifying threat Naruto had ever heard coming his way. Judging by the look on his face, it was definitely the most horrifying thing he could imagine ever happening. Trying to reign in her amusement a little she turned to Ino, who sat with a smug grin across her face and her arms crossed. "Th-That was cruel.. Ino..! Hahah!"

"Pfah, was being nice. Bad enough I had to endure _those_ two. I'll go back to being a shallow dieting girl before I suffer a third idiot spouting that youth nonsense." Ino said with a huff, ignoring the flinch from Naruto as he quietly ate his ramen. Savoring the heavenly taste of it. "Besides.. It's gotten him to actually eat at a human pace, too." she added with a snicker. Hearing Naruto mutter something under her breathe she raised an eyebrow. "What's that now, idiot?"

"I said I'm gonna tell Baa-chan you're threatening me with evil Medic jutsu.." he repeated a her with a whiny pout, quickly returning back to his ramen before angering the blonde again.

Ino's grin instantly vanished as she paled at those words, eyes widening in horror. _'Noooooo...' _Leaning over to Naruto she insistently started poking his right arm. "Please don't! Do you have any idea how out of her mind angry she gets at misuse of Medic jutsu?! Please don't tell her! I won't destroy your taste buds, promise!" she pleaded, cold sweat running down the back of her head. This all caused Ayame to burst out into a new fit of giggles.

Naruto just blinked a few times, staring at Ino as if she'd grown a second head. It took him several moments to realize what had spooked Ino. He chuckled before a small grin formed on his lips. "What? You're not scared of the old hag are you?"

Her eyes narrowed and she snarled lowly. "Would you be if I told her you kept calling her an old hag?" That had the desired effect as now Naruto began paling as well. He shot up and held out his hand to the special Jonin. "T-truce?" he asked quickly. Nodding at him, Ino shook his hand with a snicker. "Truce. No telling Tsunade-sama on each other for anything.."

"Haha.. Y-you two.. A-Are ridiculous.. Hahah!"

"Ooh, we are are we? Then how about we tell Teuchi-san of how his daughter is mocking some of his most loyal costumers, hmm?" Ino said, turning to the still laughing Ayame with a sly grin. Naruto just looked on as Ayame's laughing came to an abrupt halt. Ino leaned forward a little. "Wouldn't that be a good idea, A-ya-me-chan..?" she said sweetly.

While she didn't pale like the two blondes had at each other's threats, she definitely felt a shiver shoot down her spine at the thought of her father lecturing her. She leaned over the counter quickly with her hand held out to both of them. "Truce."

"I thought as much!" Ino said as she chuckled, shaking Ayame's hand before all three began laughing.

* * *

After staying for another hour in the ramen stand the two blondes said their goodbyes to Ayame before walking out the stand. They had spent their time with idle banter while Naruto made sure to devour a couple bowls of ramen more as Ino and Ayame were engaged in girl talk with one another. He had been wondering on how those two had gotten to be such seemingly good friends, seeing them talk so freely with each other.

As they walked down the streets he couldn't help but look around him at all the passing people with growing confusion. It just hit him that it seemed much more had changed in the past three years than he was aware of at first. Or maybe it was starting to change before already but he had failed to notice it? Ino noticed his almost jittery way of looking all around himself and turned her head to him with curiosity burning in her eyes. "What's wrong? Looking for someone?"

"Huh?" he uttered, being snapped out of his thoughts by the blonde before her words sunk in. "Oh.. Just, I don't know. It's strange but somehow it seems like no one's..glaring at me..like they used to. Surely they recognize me, right? Haven't changed -that- much, have I?" he asked Ino while going back to looking around himself. Returning the occasional polite nod to him with a small smile forming on his lips.

She blinked her eyes once and cast a quick glance across the streets to see what he was talking about. Chuckling softly she smiled and prodded his arm gently. "Of course they know who you are. You're none other than Jiraiya-sama's hand-picked student, after all."

"But that's now what I mea-" "I know.. But that's what they're seeing by the looks of it, don't you agree?" Ino said, interrupting him mid-sentence as she gave him a knowing look. She couldn't help but smile as she saw the realization sparking in Naruto's eyes at the meaning of her words. His smile grew slightly and he nodded once with a slightly bowed head, surprising Ino with his rather mild reaction. Until he looked up at her with a gleam in his eyes that could only be described at happiness. "I guess so..!" he said cheerfully, going back to glancing around.

Ino was glad he looked away again as it allowed her a brief moment to fight back a subtle pinkish hue that formed on her lips when she met his beaming eyes just now. Taking a short breathe while shaking her head lightly. _'The heck was that..'_ she muttered to herself.

"Thanks.. Ino.." Naruto said quietly, a little more subdued as he just smiled at her. She returned the smile and nodded her head at him. "You're welcome, Naruto."

He nodded back before looking at where they were going, and then into the opposite direction where his home was. Pondering for a moment he turned back to Ino curiously. "So.. Where are we going anyhow?"

Looking at him with her right eyebrow arching up a little. "Ehm.. No where in particular? You sorta just followed me when we left Ichiraku's." she said, bursting out giggling at his dumbfounded look as his jaw dropped. Reigning in her amusement she seemed to think of something for a moment. "Now that you mention it though.. I guess going somewhere a bit more..private would do. There's still a number of things I'd like to talk to you about.. one on one.." she said more seriously, not really making any eye contact as she seemed deep in thought.

The blonde Genin blinked at the sudden serious tone to her voice, craning his neck at her before he shrugged his shoulders. She'd tell him when they were alone he figured, whatever it was she wanted to talk about. "Sure, I guess.." He looked back down the road before his gaze trailed up a little, something apparently having caught his eye. "I know just the place! Come on!" he said, snapping her out from her musings as he picked up the pace a little while sending her a grin over his shoulder. "I know just the place where no one generally ever comes."

She sighed inwardly once at him before nodding and following Naruto quickly. Curious as to where exactly they were going, which was a welcomed distraction from the subject she had been thinking about.

* * *

The sun had just started setting, casting a subtle orange glow over the village of Konoha. The two blondes slowly walked along the edge of the Hokage Monument, with the former taking in the spectacular view the sunset granted from so high. Ino was taking in the sight for several moments before turning to Naruto with a bright smile. "Wow, this place is amazing. Never thought the view from up the Hokage Monument was this beautiful." she spoke cheerfully, her eyes beaming as she looked back over the village.

Scratching the back of his head a little he joined Ino in enjoying the view while chuckling. "I know. I used to come here all the time when I wanted to be alone. You know.. Get away from the stares and all. Often sat down for hours on the Yondaime's head, just thinking." he said in a slightly more sullen tone.

"Then.. Why'd you bring me here? Kinda sounded this spot is rather special to you.."

Naruto just shrugged once, not thinking anything of it as he glanced over to the blonde Jonin. "I don't really mind showing you. Besides, you already know my deepest secret.. Makes this one seem rather silly to want to keep to myself."

Gawking at him for a brief moment, she eventually just snickered to herself and nodded. Her right hand moving to flick her index finger across the side of Naruto's head. "Heh, insightful idiot.." she said with a soft voice, winking at him.

He just muttered something under his breathe about not being an idiot and mean, loudmouth gossip queens. After several minutes of silence he looked back to Ino. "So.. What did you want to talk about, Ino?"

A deep sigh sounded from the blonde's lips as she sat herself down, motioning for Naruto to sit down as well. "A few things, mostly related to one another really.. I don't really know how much Jiraiya-sama has told you about things that happened in the past three years, but you do know what happened five months ago..right?" she asked, a little uncertain about the breaching the subject.

"Five months ago? What exactly are you talking ab-..oh wait..right.." Naruto said, letting out a deep sigh at the end as he looked down to the ground. "Yeah.. I know what.._he_..did.."

The way he nearly spat out that word made her look at him in surprise. She couldn't disagree with him, she felt quite similar about it after all, but she was not expecting such a tone from Naruto. "I see. Then you know he's officially a wanted Missing-Nin now, I assume?"

Nodded lightly once, his right hand clenching around his knee as he thought back to when he first heard it from Jiraiya five months ago. "Low-mid A-rank Missing-Nin.. He must've gotten really strong to get such a high ranking in the bingo book.." he muttered loud enough for Ino to hear. "When Ero-sennin first told me I wasn't sure what to think of it, hadn't been thinking about it for ages. He also told me that with this, he now had no place to return to here in Konoha." he chuckled lightly once, idly gazing over the village with a sullen look in his eyes. "I snapped at him, then stopped talking to him for almost a week. I wanted to save my judgement of Sasuke till I could look him in the eye again, but.. Guess that wasn't going to happen."

"Sounds somewhat similar to how I reacted. The not knowing what to think part, that is. I didn't throw a hissy fit at my master for speaking the truth. I can understand, though I bet Jiraiya-sama wasn't pleased?"

"He wasn't, no. But he gave me my space during that time and just waited for when I was willing to talk about it. He accepted it when I, somewhat begrudgingly, agreed with him.. That bastard really went too far to possibly be allowed back as a Shinobi of Konoha." he sighed out in defeat. He had secretly been hoping there was still a chance to make the Uchiha see reason. But he had practically made himself an enemy to Konoha now, which had been a bitter pill to swallow.

Ino gently placed her hand on Naruto's upper arm, offering him a small smile. "Tsunade-sama will be glad to hear that, I wager. She was rather worried you might gotten it in your head that there was still a chance. Actually, I'm a bit relieved myself as well."

"A.. Chance? Heh, if only. I thought about it nonstop that week, trying to think of any way of somehow making everything right and get him to return. But.. That's just impossible. He -killed- three Leaf Shinobi, and severely wounded a fourth, when the squad came across him on a mission. No way that can just be..made right again..right?" he asked, looking up to Ino with a sliver of doubt in his eyes still.

"No, there's not." she replied curtly, surprising the blond. "I already lost all respect for him when he left three years ago and I.. Ahem.. frolicked around in your head a little to find out what happened.." she looked away a little, not to proud of her misconduct back then. Though she hadn't felt regret for it. "When Tsunade-sama let me read the report of the surviving Chunin from the squad that encountered Sasuke, I was shocked. But thinking of what I've seen in your memories.. it really shouldn't have been that surprising.."

They both fell silent after that with a nod of agreement to each other, lost to their own thoughts. Remembering the day they learned of the first sighting of Sasuke since he had abandoned the village. He had come across a squad of four Chunin, who were on their way back to the village from a low B-rank mission. After a brief, but heated, argument from the squad captain with a barely responsive Sasuke the captain ordered his team to subdue and capture the Uchiha. The resulting fight was relatively short as the raven-haired boy easily evaded all of their attacks with his Sharingan and made quick work of the Chunin with his sword and advanced usage of his Chidori.

According to the report of the only surviving team member of that encounter the Uchiha had spoken few words, but all lingering on the border of treason. He held no reservations against them in battle, which was evident by the count of three deaths. The fourth only survived because Sasuke had deemed them too weak to take more of his time. He wanted to test his strength against them, but said he was thoroughly disappointed and left. Leaving the only survivor a bloody mess amidst his fallen comrades, to be found by a group of traveling merchants who had saved his life with their limited knowledge of first aid. The merchants were on their way to Konoha, and took the wounded man with them as well as the fallen Chunin after having covered them up respectfully.

The news of what had happened to the group of Chunin had a great impact amongst the population of Konoha. Where the Uchiha was 'just' a runaway in the eyes of more than a few, it had become more than obvious it was much worse than that. Not a week later Sasuke was officially listed as a Missing-Nin of Konoha, given a low A-rank classification along with an 'Engage with caution' warning.

The shock had been strongest amongst the youths that had been dubbed 'The Konoha Ten'. It was, after all, their former class-mate or peer that had been placed in the bingo book, labeling him their enemy. While most of them had lost their respect for Sasuke during and after the failed retrieval mission, it still made them feel uneasy to think of him as an enemy. Kiba and, surprisingly, Shikamaru had been the most outspoken figures on their judgement of the Uchiha for his deeds. Both Neji and Shino had quickly agreed with them, while the rest remained more impassive about the subject. Not one of them argued against it, however.

It had been entirely different for Naruto. After he snapped at Jiraiya he withdrew himself to his thoughts for several days. While he was thoroughly shocked about it at first, and angry at Jiraiya for his remark, there had been a myriad going through him. Regret and guilt came after his anger at Jiraiya had faded a little. If he had been stronger back then, trained as seriously as he had been with Jiraiya the past two and a half years he might have been able to stop Sasuke. Dragged him back to Konoha and with that preventing him from killing three fellow Leaf Shinobi.

Sadness came after that when he finally accepted that his master was right. If Sasuke really did do what the report had said, he would no doubt end up being listed as an official Missing-Nin now. Meaning there was no way for him to somehow get him to come back to Konoha with him, as he simply had no place there anymore. That led to a return of his anger, but this time at his former team-mate for having fallen so far into his own darkness that he was willing to take the lives of Shinobi of Konoha. That anger eventually faded and formed his resolve and his determination.

"I'm still gonna drag his sorry ass back, you know.." he said in a low voice, making Ino look up from her own thoughts in surprise.

"You can't be serious! He-" she began but was cut off as Naruto raised his hand at her while sighing deeply. "I know.. That's why I have to, before that idiot does even more harm.. It's my fault he got away in the first place, so it's only right I bring him back so he can atone for his actions. Even if..that means he'll likely be trialled a traitor."

She gawked at him for a moment, not really sure what to say. Did he really blame himself for what happened? She sighed out and hung her head a little, of course he did. Looking up to him she was about to speak up but again got cut off by his voice.

"Besides.. I still have that promise to keep to you.." he started, a little uncertain as he looked away. "Even though there's been absolutely no sign of her at all.. Best method of getting Sakura to come back, is to drag Sasuke back..right..?"

Her eyes went wide at his words, shimmering slightly with unshed tears as she quickly averted her eyes from him. Sakura's absence had been really painful in the past three years. As disappointed as she was of her best friend, she couldn't bring herself to hate her for even a second. She had tried not to think of the pink haired girl, but specially the first year she failed at that more often than not. At least with Sasuke they knew were, or with who at the very least, he was. And that he was alive. There had been nothing to hint to Sakura's whereabouts at all, or even that she were still alive in the first place.

"N-Naruto.. How do you.. even k-know she's..alive?" she stuttered out, sniffing once as she brought her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them.

The blond shrugged once and stared out into nowhere as he shifted uncomfortably. "Still that same feeling I had just after she left.. She's alive, somewhere.. She's smart, and more capable than she may have seemed. I just know she's.. with _him_."

"B-but if she's really with Sasuke.." she started but felt at a loss for words, not sure what she was thinking even. She looked over to her fellow blond from the corner of her eyes while biting down on her lower lip lightly. "He killed three fellow Shinobi, Naruto.. She can't seriously be ignoring that, can she..?"

"Hmm.." Naruto hummed out as he shifted again, deep in thought of his other runaway team-mate. He eventually looked to Ino with a sullen smile. "Doubt she knows.. Which is for the best, I guess.. Maybe she'll come to see reason when she finds that out.."

"Tsunade-sama still won't be kind to her.."

"No.. But if Sakura had nothing to do with what that bastard did, and might do.. She could still come back home. Even if she'll be on probation for quite a while, things might.. I dunno, remotely go back to normal..?"

A small smile broke out on her lips at his optimism, she was glad that part of him hadn't changed. "Heh.. That'd be nice.. Thank you, Naruto.." she said softly, looking him deep in his eyes.

He smiled back at her and gave her a thumbs up. "No problem, Ino. I never break my promises, remember? Besides.." he said as he quickly averted his eyes, a light blush on his cheeks. "I kinda owe you that much at least.."

Blinking once she cocked her head and raised her right brow, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "Huh? What could you possibly owe me for? What could _I_ have possibly done for you to be indebted to me?"

Shifting once again Naruto just kept his head turned from Ino, finding the tree line in the distance very interesting for some reason. "Accepting me. Despite having the..Kyuubi.. sealed in me. You're the only one of our age group that knows, and you didn't hate me for it.. Still seeing me, for me. So yeah, I feel like I owe you.. Big time."

She listened closely to his words and only nodded once with a smile, prodding him with her index finger again. "You don't owe me anything for that, _idiot_." she said, her voice carrying something Naruto couldn't really put hit finger around. It somehow made it not feel like an insult, at all. "I'd say it's not a big deal, but.. Obviously it is. Still, nothing you owe me for Naruto. Consider it us being even after all the times I was such a bitch to you, hmm?" she asked with a light snicker in her voice.

"Hey you're not a bitch!" Naruto said almost instantly as he turned back to her finally. Though his expression became slightly more sheepish shortly after. "At least not when you're trying to be nice.."

Ino smacked the palm of her right hand across her face as she sweatdropped. "Ugh.. You just contradicted your own protest against my statement.. You're hopeless." she groaned out before chuckling quietly.

Crossing his arms with a puff, Naruto looked away pouting. "Hmpf, fine. You're a bitch, happy? Oww!" he grunted in pain as he felt a lump forming on the back of his head. Looking back to Ino who now sat with her arms crossed as well, though a light smirk could be seen curving her lips.

"Ass.."

He sighed and hung his head in defeat, rubbing the sore spot where Ino's fist connected with his skill. _'Ero-sennin's right.. I'll never understand women..'_

After several minutes of silence and looking over the village as lights emerges from the houses, the sun had almost fully set and several stars were already visible in the sky.

"So, what do you think the verdict will be tomorrow?" Ino said after some time, breaking their silence.

The Genin shrugged once and looked up at the sky. "I really don't know.. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. We're kinda lacking at least one person to form a team again, provided Kakashi-sensei and me will still be on the same team."

She nodded once. "What about the Chunin Exams though? You never did answer Shika yesterday. Will you ask Tsunade-sama to be put on a Genin team for it?" she asked, drawing his attention away from the stars and to her instead as he shook his head.

"Doubt Baa-chan would allow me. Or otherwise Ero-sennin will tell her not to let me enter the Exams, I bet." he said in a calm voice which surprised her. The fact he thought they would prevent him from taking the Exams was surprising enough, but what shocked her was how calm he was about it.

"Why would they do that? And.. Why are you so fine with that? Yesterday you looked really put off about being the last Genin amongst us."

"Yeah, that sucks alright.. But that doesn't mean I'm the weakest of the group!" he said with a big grin. "Also, it wouldn't really be fair. I don't like sounding too arrogant, but I'd like be way way ahead of the rest of the Genin if I'd enter."

Chuckling softly in agreement. "True, though I don't think it's so arrogant to say it. You did train with Jiraiya-sama for three years after all. But still, even if it would be kind of unfair.. That's not a reason to keep you from advancing to Chunin." she said with a small frown on her face. She felt it to be more unfair to ban him from the exams than to other Genin if he did enter.

Shaking his head again, his eyes hardened a little before looking away. "That's not why they won't let me enter. They probably don't want me openly show-boating my skills to any who wishes to see. And I kinda agree, I suppose."

"Huh? Why not?"

"What if a member, or spy or whatever, from Akatsuki would be amongst the crowd to gather information on my skills?" Naruto retorted simply, though his unease was easily seen.

"I.. Almost forgot about them. You're right, entering wouldn't be wise. Too big a risk." she said, biting her lower lip in frustration that she forgot about the group after her fellow blonde. "Can't believe I didn't think of that. Akatsuki.. Do you think we'll be ready for them? I can't imagine how powerful they must be."

Naruto looked at her in surprise, jaw dropping slightly. "W-we..? What do you mean by that?"

A frown formed on her face as she glared at him, poking him hard in the chest as she leaned a little closer. "You didn't seriously think you were on your own against them, did you? Tsunade-sama didn't push me as hard as she did, -I- didn't push myself so hard, for nothing! Hell, the others might not know about it yet but they will -all- fight for you, you idiot!" she said sharply, repeatedly poking him in the chest.

His eyes were wide as he listened to Ino's outburst. Did she even realize what she was insinuating just now? Fighting even a single S-rank Missing-Nin was sure to be a life and death situation. "B-but.." he started, but was instantly cut off by Ino.

"No buts! No matter what you may think, you're one of us! Our class-mate, our friend. Part of the Konoha Ten! And what about Jiraiya-sama? Or Kakashi-sensei? They'll definitely fight to protect you too! And Tsunade-sama as well!" Ino panted once from her yelling, taking a moment to regain her composure as she leaned back again from him, but never breaking the eye contact. Her anger slowly faded as she saw Naruto processing her words with a dumbfounded look on his face. He eventually turned away to avert his eyes, but she spotted a light trembling of his lower lip. She spoke again, but in a much softer voice. "You're not alone anymore, Naruto.. You know that."

A meek nod was his only response as he kept his eyes tightly shut. He had intended on fighting the Akatsuki by himself, to keep everyone from harm. But he couldn't deny the fact that Ino's declaration filled him with a warmth. Trembling lightly as he found his determination growing only stronger. He would definitely protect everyone, with the knowledge of them having his back in return. A small, genuine small curved his lips as he tilted his head to Ino slightly. "T-thank you, Ino.."

Smiling softly at him she put her hand on his head before giving it a light push, giggling. "You're welcome, idiot." she said before pushing herself up to her feet, stretching herself out after sitting on the stone ground for so long.

He looked up at her as he noticed her getting up, only to find himself inadvertently staring at the stretching form of his fellow blonde. Suddenly the words of Jiraiya came rushing back to him from when she entered the Hokage's office the day before. _"Grown into a fine looking young woman"_ echoed through his head for a moment before he blinked and shook his head slightly and looked away quickly with a pink hue on his cheeks. _'Damn it, I'm not like Ero-sennin!'_

Ino had not missed the blond's staring at her body, but didn't show it. She giggled inwardly as he caught himself in his own staring and looked away with a blush. It surprised her a little how she did not feel insulted by it at all. Then again, it wasn't a perverted leer like his master had given her a day before. Plus he quickly looked away embarrassed when he realized what he was doing. _'At least he's got good taste'_ she mused with a sly grin. "It's getting kinda late.. Better get home and get a good night's sleep. I'm sure Tsunade-sama will have something to do for me after given us her verdict." she said calmly, not waiting for Naruto's response as she walked behind him before a sudden urge caused her to lean down. Her left hand on his shoulder and her lips closer to his ear than strictly necessary for a whisper. "See you tomorrow.. Perv.." she whispered in a semi-husky voice before jumping off, not giving him a chance to react to her.

Turning around to Ino as she moved behind him, his entire body froze as she leaned down over him and places her hand on his shoulder. Gulping once as he felt his breathe hitching in his throat for some reason. His eyes widening at her whispered words while a shudder crashed down through his spine at the realization of being caught staring. He remained in his frozen state for several moments longer before he realized Ino had already left, his cheeks burning a deep scarlet that could rival Hinata's. He turned around to where the blonde had jumped off to, a dumbfounded look still on his face. _'W-what.. The hell was that..?'_


End file.
